Shizuka's Bizarre Adventure: Diamonds and Pearls
by Anti-Mattering
Summary: Shizuka Joestar returns to Morioh to investigate her birth parents, getting more than she bargained for in the process of searching for them. Also known as, "Why didn't Giorno show up to fight Pucci?"
1. The Search Begins

_Shizuka arrives in Morioh to begin her search for her birth mother._

* * *

Shizuka Joestar loved her parents as much as they loved her. This had always remained a truth throughout their entire life together. Even her father's infidelity couldn't break the two of them apart, mainly because of the fact that the situation that resulted from it brought her into their lives.

Despite this, Shizuka often found herself wondering what many adopted children have at some point: Who made me? It wasn't as if she was prepared to drop everything and abandon her family on a quest to find her "real parents", or anything, but it was hard not to think about it from time to time.

That was made all the more difficult by the obvious differences between her and her parents. They were a pair of elderly white people who'd lived in New York for most of their lives while she was a young Asian child straight from a small town in Japan. Beyond the obvious double-take many of her classmates had after her first career day at school, it only helped to intensify the yearning she felt for answers.

That was why, at twelve years of age, she finally asked for permission to explore her hometown to look for her birth mother. She tried to keep her goals realistic (after all, it was much more likely she'd find the mother of a baby abandoned on the side of a road compared to both parents), but that request still came with a series of challenges.

Both her parents were pushing 90 years old, something that made travel a bit of a hazardous affair. Not only that, her father's reputation for walking away from eight different plane crashes in his lifetime might bode well for him, but anyone else in the aircraft with him might be another story. If nothing else, she'd planned for school, asking a year out from her spring break so as not to interfere with it.

Despite all this, numerous requests, a Power Point presentation, and an invisible tantrum eventually caused them to relent, but on the condition she have a chaperon ready. Though Shizuka balked at the idea of needing someone to follow her around (she was twelve years old!), her first instinct was to ask her brother to accompany her when she got to Japan. Unfortunately, he and his friends had apparently gone on a camping trip to the mountains only a few days prior and couldn't be reached due to a lack of cell reception.

The next obvious candidate was her nephew. Despite the title, he was a grown man of 40 and had the full trust of both her parents, not to mention a very aloof attitude that would probably let her get away with doing whatever she wanted. As if fate was conspiring to keep her from her goals, though, he was also busy, apparently preoccupied with his daughter being sentenced to prison. After him was cousin Jolyne, but…

That left only one person whom she'd never met nor spoken to in her entire life. Jotaro had apparently arranged for this before he went off on business, but both her parents were hesitant to accept. Frankly, that was good enough for her rebellious preteen sensibilities, though those same sensibilities still wouldn't allow her to be happy with an adult hanging around.

She managed to persuade everyone to let her take the flight to S City alone, as well as a simple bus ride into Morioh. She'd never actually ridden the bus before, what with her family having a private driver, so it was a nice experience. Frustration quickly overtook amusement once she got into town, though.

Having picked up her father's skills in observation, she realized the taxi following them the entire ride was probably the person who'd be tagging along. These suspicions where confirmed when a tall man with shocking blond hair emerged from the passenger's side in the back, strolling towards her casually.

"Buongiorno," he greeted with a heavy Italian accent and a slight bow. "Are you Shizuka Joestar?" he asked in perfect Japanese.

"Maybe," she replied, pulling down her dark sunglasses just a hair in a gesture she was sure made her look extremely cool.

With a nod, he introduced himself. "I am Giorno Giovanna, your..." He had to pause, not entirely sure what the label for their relationship would be. "Well, it's not too important. We're family all the same. I'll be accompanying you on your trip. And, please, call me GioGio. There's no need for anything overly formal."

Everything about this man put her on edge, but she couldn't place why. He was exceptionally hard to read, keeping a demeanor that was equal parts friendly and cold all at once. Deep down inside, though, she thought she could sense some kind of strength. Not the simple kind of strength like pure brawn, but a warm, loving strength that allowed him to take on the burden of others. It may even be the reason he chose to help her personally when, while Shizuka had no way of knowing this, he had numerous others who could have gone in his place.

"GioGio!" a voice said from the car. Out stepped a woman who was dressed in what could charitably be described as an outfit, plodding barefoot across the sidewalk to meet up with the two. From the second Shizuka spotted her, she felt this stranger's gaze bore into her like she was part of one of those shows where they trick criminals into getting themselves caught, everyone around somehow knowing of the Joestar's guilt before she was even aware she'd committed any crimes.

"You know you can't just run off without me," she told the man. "I can't guard a body that isn't in my range."

Giorno merely chuckled. "I told you I'd be perfectly fine on my own. Besides, I doubt we have much to worry about in a town like this." He turned back to Shizuka. "Sorry, I should introduce you two. This is my bodyguard, Sheila E. Sheila E, this is my...family member, Shizuka Joestar."

Despite the fact they'd be forced into interaction over these next few weeks, it was clear none of them had gotten off on the right foot. Shizuka and Sheila E were locked into something akin to a staring match, Giorno too busy admiring the quaint scenery of Morioh to pay much attention.

Clicking her tongue, Shizuka shoved her hands into her pink and purple hoodie. "That's just great," she mumbled. "So if you're my babysitters, what do we do now?"

Giorno merely shook his head. "Nothing of the sort. We're merely here to keep you safe. This journey is yours to take, so you'll be the one to decide our course."

"Does she not speak Italian?" Sheila E whispered. "I can't understand either of you."

"That might be a problem," he said with a nod, deftly switching between languages. "Shizuka, do you mind if we take a detour quickly? I'd like us to get something sorted out before we begin."

"Whatever," she sighed, letting Giorno and Sheila E pass her. Despite obviously having more knowledge of the town than either of them, they were still able to take the lead without much issue. It was hard to tell whether the man actually knew where he was going or simply had exceptional luck as he wandered around sightseeing.

Somehow, they managed to make it to an unassuming house that she was quite familiar with. Was it just a coincidence or were these people trying to make fun of her. "I believe this is the house," Giorno said. With the confidence or a man who had nothing in the world to fear, he strolled up to the house, reaching out to ring the doorbell before being stopped by a hand grabbing his wrist through a crack in the door.

Sheila E was ready to spring into action, but Giorno held up his free hand to signal her to stand down. "Oh, you're the one, right?" the man said, releasing his grip and opening the door fully. There stood famous mangaka Kishibe Rohan in all his glory.

"Yes," Giorno answered. "I called ahead. I thought we might need your assistance, so thank you for agreeing to help."

"Just remember our deal," he said sternly. "I'd like all the details to be as accurate as possible. My readers won't appreciate it if you lie to me about what being a mobster is truly like." Peering behind the man he spoke to, Rohan caught sight of Shizuka, flashing a familiar smile her way. "You all should come inside. It would be easier to discuss the details of what you want me to do."

Giorno agreed, gesturing the other two inside. This place hadn't changed much since Shizuka last came to visit, everything kept orderly and clean to an almost sterile degree as if its occupant rarely used much of the space he owned. "Take a seat in the sitting room," Rohan told them. "I'll bring out some tea."

As Shizuka kicked off a pair of sneakers, she saw Giorno stop the woman next to her. "Oh, Sheila E. Sorry, but please wipe your feet. Japanese homes prefer if anyone entering removes their shoes, but since you have none..." It was more than a bit amusing to watch her take a seat on the ground without a moment's hesitation, feverishly wiping down her feet with a handkerchief before proceeding.

They didn't have to wait for long before Rohan returned, placing a tray with cups of green tea for each of them on a coffee table. Before mentioning a word of business, he turned to Shizuka. "I'm glad you came to see me," he told her warmly. "It's been a while since you last visited."

"Mom and dad are getting old, so we don't get to travel as much anymore," she said, her bratty exterior giving way to a much more agreeable and sweet side she didn't much feel like showing people these days. For whatever reason, the two of them had become fast friends over the years once Shizuka had learned to talk (or rather, read), Rohan remaining one of the few people she didn't talk back to or disrespect as she started to mature.

"How do you feel about the current story arc?" he asked, always taking a chance to gauge the opinions of his audience in person. "You're still keeping up with the manga I send you?"

She nodded. "Dad and I read it together online every week, but we still read it again when we get them in the mail. We like what you're doing with the villain this time. I didn't think there was so much you could do with a power that can only move small things around." Shizuka had taken off her sunglasses to hold the conversation, emerald-colored eyes lit with excitement as she discussed her favorite comic.

He laughed to himself proudly. "I always strive to find new ways to use mundane or useless concepts in my manga in ways that no one has tried before." His expression shifted after that, though, almost physically forcing himself to switch gears to talk about something besides manga. "But we can continue this conversation another time. I understand you're all here for a reason."

"We are," Giorno said, Sheila E beside him as she continuously took sips of tea only to grimace in disgust at its flavor. "Before we begin, though, can I ask a favor? I heard from our mutual friend that you can impart languages onto others."

"A simple matter," Rohan said, producing a pen from seemingly thin air. "Heaven's Door!" he called out, sketching his Stand into existence. It shot across from him, opening up Sheila E like a travel brochure. Her instinct was to struggle, but one look to Giorno quelled her panic.

"That should take care of that," he said after he finished writing a command into her. His power undid itself after he sat back down. "Now, what did you need me for?"

"I understood that," Sheila E said in amazement, realizing at the same moment her words came out in native-sounding Japanese.

"It should be much easier for us to accomplish our goal if we can all speak the same language," Giorno told her.

"Thank you, GioGio," she said, overlooking the person who had actually done the deed of giving her the ability.

Rohan cleared his throat, not wanting to waste time he could be using to get a head start on next week's pages. "Of course," Giorno replied. "You see, we've come here today to search for Shizuka's birth mother. We were wondering if you had any connections that might be able to lead us in the right direction."

Shizuka was taken aback at this. As far as she knew, they were only here to eliminate a language barrier, but this man was already working towards her goal ahead of her. Sure, she likely would have come to the same conclusion on her own, but she would have preferred to be the one to make that choice. So much for this being her journey.

Nodding, Rohan admitted, "I've actually looked into that from time to time over the years. I haven't found much, though." That was more than nothing, however, as he quickly explained. "My Heaven's Door can only reveal the memories of a person, so a baby had very little of use. When I looked into what was written about Shizuka, the only thing of interest I found was a single word: Centipede."

"So the only thing you know is that I saw a centipede as a baby?" Shizuka replied, her disappointment apparent in her voice.

"Most likely, but there's more. I couldn't help but wonder why that word compared to so many others had been stuck in your brain. Eventually, I did some digging." Without a word, Rohan stood from his seat, leaving the room briefly to take a folder he'd collected and slide it across the table. "I wasn't sure when or even if I should have told you about this. I'll understand if you're upset with me."

Opening the cover, Shizuka parsed several newspaper clippings and printouts of articles. "What is...this is about human trafficking." This caught the attention of both Giorno and Sheila E. "Centipede is the name of some trafficking ring? Wait, what are you trying to say?" Despite asking the question, it was clear why Rohan had collected this information. "Are you serious? I can't be… I mean…"

"We shouldn't jump to conclusions," Giorno said to try and reassure her. "I'm sure there's another explanation."

"Perhaps, but I'm not seeing one," Rohan said bluntly. "I'm sorry for keeping this from you for so long, but I didn't want to frighten you. But if you're looking for your birth mother, I suppose I can't hide it from you any longer."

"So I was...kidnapped, or something? And, what, I escaped?" She held her head in her hands as she desperately tried to process all of this information.

"You do have a useful ability," Rohan said. "It wouldn't be difficult for you to become misplaced if the stress awakened your Stand."

Of all people, Sheila E was the next to speak. "Are you okay?" she asked, almost feeling sorry for the girl. She was no stranger to rough childhoods, so it was hard to fight the small amount of kinship brewing in her heart.

Shizuka said nothing for several seconds. After that, though, she lifted her head. Even with her eyes hidden, the determination of her gaze was unmistakable. "I'm just great. This just means we actually have a lead. Which means all we need to do now is find the people who took me and make them talk."

* * *

Here's my take on something I'm fairly sure most people have actually wanted to hear about at some point or another. Maybe it'll be good.

Yeah, this is why Giorno didn't show up in Stone Ocean. Jotaro never had the chance to call him back, either, since he's either in a coma or actively on Pucci's ass since heading to Green Dolphin. Same for Josuke since he and the lads are off on a camping trip fighting, like, a Stand-wielding demon bear that's out for blood. That's a story I'd pay to read.

Since Sheila E is here, we're operating off PHF being a part of the continuity. Personally, I don't think it's that hard to square it with the anime's Fugo backstory since it doesn't change much besides the specifics of said backstory. Honestly, from where I stand, I think the anime's take actually makes PHF a better story retroactively, so I'd probably say that the actual canon we're working with is a mix of both. When PHF OVA?

I like the idea of Rohan having a connection with Shizuka and being less of a dickhead around her than he normally is. It's probably because I like Strawberry-Jan's Morioh comics and he kind of has that relationship with little Jolyne, so I wanted something like that here. Side note, apparently she deleted recently. Hope she's okay.

As bad of a husband Joseph is, he's a pretty good father. He and Suzy Q made sure Shizuka stayed in touch with her heritage while they were raising her, so she took frequent trips back to Morioh to see Josuke and the gang and learned Japanese in addition to English. She probably went to see Holly sometimes, too, and Jotaro in Florida. I would hope she's kind of close with Jolyne and maybe helped facilitate some interactions between her and her father over the years.

Gangster or not, I imagine Jotaro has full faith in Giorno by this point. He won Koichi over, and he trusts Koichi, so he can have custody of Shizuka for a while. Besides, Polnareff is there to keep an eye on him now. Everyone can trust Polnareff to make good decisions.

Like with anything related to Part V, there's going to be some dark stuff going on in here if the fact Shizuka's going after a human trafficking ring wasn't enough of a tipoff. Proceed with caution if stuff like that or abuse themes are something you're not okay with.

I wish I knew someone musical to commission a Shizuka theme. I'm trying to think of how to square the dubstep heavy Part II influences with the funk rock nature of Part IV, plus that jazzy Golden Wind during Giorno and Sheila E scenes.

That's about all we've got for now. Thanks for reading. Share if you're enjoying. Always remember to turn into a book.

[Note: George Lucasing this shit because the end of the world happened in March and not June]


	2. Finding Some Answers

_Shizuka goes off on her own to try and find a lead on the traffickers._

* * *

"Shizuka, do you have anywhere you plan to stay?" Giorno asked as he and his bodyguard followed the Joestar girl down the street. She didn't reply, seemingly in deep thought after the revelations they'd uncovered at Rohan's house. "If you haven't, we could stop by a hotel quickly. Or would you prefer to stay with someone you know?" He was ignored once again.

"Kid, you want to say something to him?" Sheila E barked, not willing to tolerate any disrespect to her boss.

"Do whatever you want," she finally said, continuing on towards an unknown destination.

"We're only here to help," Giorno reminded her. "We haven't yet made any accommodations, so one of our people is holding our things. We'd just like to know where he can deliver them."

She sighed loudly. "I don't care where you go."

Giorno raised a hand slightly to keep Sheila E at bay, her anger nearly boiling over. "I'll make accommodations for a hotel, then. Is that where you'd like to stay? When I was reading about this town, I heard good reviews for the Morioh Grand Hotel."

"Yeah, sure, fine! Just leave me alone!" As indignant as she was, Shizuka quickly realized how rude she was being. Whether or not she wanted them there, these two were at least trying to help her. Finally turning to face them, she muttered, "Look, can I just...be alone? I know this place and I don't need a babysitter to just go to the store."

With a smile, Giorno nodded. "I see your point. We'll stop at the hotel for now and continue our investigation another time." He took a slip of paper from his pocket and handed it to her. "You have a cell phone, correct? This is a number you can contact me at. We'll reserve a room for you, as well."

"Sure," she said, pocketing the paper inside her hoodie. A bit awkwardly, she slowly walked off down the sidewalk.

"She's making a run for it," Sheila E correctly assessed. "Should I follow her?"

"There's no need," Giorno said. "If there's trouble, I'll know. Right now we need to focus on convincing her to trust us. Let's settle in and consider what we know so far." With full faith in her superior, Sheila E simply nodded and followed Giorno to the hotel, getting directions on the phone from the Passione operative who had the equally important and boring task of holding their luggage at the airport all this time.

Meanwhile, Shizuka went off to do her own thing. She didn't lie about heading to the store, making a quick stop into Owson to grab some juice before continuing on to her real objective. While Rohan hadn't found much on Centipede, he had been keeping up with the news and discovered there had been a bust in connection with their organization is the nearby S City. With any luck, there might be some of them hiding out in Morioh.

While that logic was somewhat sound, it didn't much change the fact that she had no idea where to begin her search. As she wandered town with her suitcase rolling behind her, she started to regret not, at the very least, turning over her luggage to the others to take to the hotel. At least then she'd have her hands free assuming she really did encounter any traffickers.

Thinking back to some of her father's stories of hunting down Nazis in Mexico, she tried to think of how she might be able to anyone that might give her a lead. Considering he'd made it quite clear that his strategy involved picking fights with random people in the desert until some of them led him to where he needed to go, though, it wasn't much use.

Looking around to make sure there was no one within earshot, she let out a quiet, "Good grief," in her best nephew impression. She was actually quite frustrated at her half-cocked plan falling to pieces, but joking about it kept her from being too angry. Despite this, she was still a bit pissed off.

She was about ready to admit defeat and go back to the hotel with her tail between her legs were it not for a shady man skulking around a nearby cafe. The ostentatious flags of various countries and the scar on his face spelled trouble. Exactly what she was looking for.

Without hesitation, she walked up to the man, turning him around and grabbing him by the collar to raise him up to her height. Despite being a fully grown adult, he was remarkably short. "Are you one of them?" she asked.

"What the hell are you talking about?" he shouted, terror in his eyes. "I didn't do anything!"

"Don't try to play me!" she told him, pulling on his collar and shoving him against a wall. "You're one of the traffickers, right? Tell me where your friends are and I won't have to make you even shorter than you are now."

"I'm not, I promise! I'm- wait, what does that mean?"

She blinked, thankful her glasses hid her confusion fairly well. "You know what I mean. I'll, like, rip you in half. So you're even shorter."

"I still don't know what you think I did, but you really need to do better about threatening people if you want information. You had to explain that and everything. It doesn't work if you just make people confused instead of scared."

She shoved him against the wall again. "That scary enough?" she asked, trying to think of better ways for a twelve-year-old to be intimidating.

"Not as much, but yes! Don't hurt me!" Rocky execution or not, her target was undoubtedly a gigantic coward. "You'd better not, okay? I've got a friend named Koichi, and he won't stand for it if someone beats me up! He's a real tough guy and so are all his friends, so just let me go and we can forget all of this ever happened!"

"Koichi?" she asked. Releasing her grip immediately, she slapped herself in the face. "I'm so sorry," she said with a sigh.

"Y-yeah, you should be! You...you..."

"I remember you," she said, waving off his attempt to be intimidating. "More importantly, how do you forget a baby that turns invisible?"

It took him a moment before realizing what she meant. "You're the invisible baby? You've really grown up. That was only a couple years ago, though, wasn't it? Wait, how old am I these days?"

"Who cares?" she said. "I'll buy you some coffee. Sorry about that, Mr. Kobayashi."

"Don't worry about it," he said, realizing there were numerous eyes upon them now. "Uh, it's nothing! Just a couple of friends having a spat!" He laughed to try and keep the situation from escalating any further. "You know, I could probably set The Lock on you right now with how guilty you feel. Have you give me some of that Joestar money to make up for all of this. But I'm not that kind of guy anymore."

"Not really that guilty," she said. "You probably did something to deserve that."

"You don't have to just say that," he replied, not exactly contesting that fact. "Anyway, what are you going around attacking people for?"

"It's a long story." Shizuka sighed, ordering the both of them coffees from a somewhat nervous waiter. "I'm trying to find anyone connected to a criminal organization that might be here in Morioh, but I...don't really know how to do that."

He nodded. "I guess I do look kind of shady, so I can't be too mad. Trying to shake people down in broad daylight's not the way you want to do this, though. You'll just let everyone know you're coming."

"I hadn't thought of that," she said, suddenly listening very intently. "What do you think I should do?"

"Well, er..." He scratched his head, conflicted on whether or not he knew enough about criminality as a former low-level con artist to really have any opinion. "I've been out of the game for a while, but I guess I could try to help. Well, not me, but a guy I know. He's got it in with all the major scumbags around town. Good bunch of guys, really. Played poker with a lot of them."

"What's the address?" she asked.

Before answering, he took a sip of the coffee the waiter set down in front of him. "Good stuff," he mused, having been fairly parched before Shizuka showed up. "You got something to write on?"

Nodding, she pulled Giorno's card from her pocket, shaking it around to knock off a pair of black ants that had somehow found their way onto it without her noticing. Kobayashi produced a pen from his pocket, scribbling some words on the blank side of the paper. "He basically never leaves the house, so he should be there."

"Thanks for your help," she said, pocketing the card and brushing away the ants that kept trying to crawl back towards her on the table. "I've got to go now."

"Just don't get yourself in too deep," he warned. "Koichi and his buddies went camping, so there's no one to come back you up if you get in trouble. I sure can't, at least."

"I can take care of myself," she said, standing up and chugging down her coffee before setting the cup down on its saucer. With a final nod, she began walking off in the direction of her next target.

"Weird kid," he mused to himself after another sip of coffee. Spotting the ants as they scurried across the ground, he reached out his foot and stomped on them, furrowing his brow once he realized something crunched. To his surprise, the insects appeared to be some kind of technology all along, not even remotely ant-shaped now that he took a closer look. Strange.

* * *

Shizuka is pissed and making bad decisions. She really is Joseph's daughter.

As usual, Giorno has everything planned out from the very start. Shizuka's managed to throw a wrench into that just based on the fact he never thought she'd actually take that card out of her pocket, though. Wonder what he's going to do about that.

More importantly, Shizuka's still carrying around her luggage. How are you going to be intimidating when you've got a pink suitcase covered in Hello Kitty stickers rolling behind you? It doesn't actually look like that, obviously, since she's way more into Badtz-Maru.

Thanks for reading. Share if you're enjoying so far. Always remember to attack the first person you see when you're searching for criminals.


	3. Satellite of Love

_Giorno and Sheila E try to catch up to Shizuka as she goes to investigate leads on her own._

* * *

Having taken the time to drink a second cup of coffee, Kobayashi was feeling rather satisfied with himself. Mostly because he'd just enjoyed some nice coffee, but also for presumably helping a little girl. Sure, it sounded like he'd actually led her into something very dangerous from the outside, but in reality...it was probably still that. He wouldn't let that ruin his good mood, though.

That would come in the form of the two Italians walking towards him as he stood up to leave the cafe. "It was around here," the blond said, his eyes focusing first on the remnants of whatever Kobayashi had crushed earlier before shifting to the man himself.

"Excuse me, sir, but were you responsible for this?" Giorno had bent down to pick up the remains of a small recording device and tracker, dropping them on top of the table beside them.

"I don't know anything," Kobayashi lied, his expression telling the two of them all they needed to know.

"We need to locate the girl who these belonged to," he said, ignoring the statement of ignorance. "Could you point us in the direction she's gone?"

"What's the big idea coming around here asking all these questions?" he said. "I don't know how they do things where you're from, buddy, but us guys in Morioh at least have the courtesy to offer a little something in exchange for information, get it?"

Giorno nodded, retrieving his wallet despite Sheila E's bafflement at his willingness to play along with the stranger. "I must have forgotten my manners. Will this do?" He held out several bills totaling 50,000 yen, Kobayashi snapping them up without a moment's hesitation and counting through them.

Eyes wide with amazement at how easily he'd just made such a big score, a touch of apprehension began to set in. It wasn't like he was a friend to Shizuka, but they did know each other. He should probably be a bit more discerning when it came to just giving away her information like this. Besides, she'd said she was looking for some dangerous people, so it might be kind of irresponsible to lead them right to her.

With a lot of hemming and hawing, Kobayashi reluctantly pushed the money back at Giorno. "If this is a donation, I'll still take it, but I don't want to take money for something I can't tell you. I don't know where any girl is."

"He's lying," Sheila E sighed, growing impatient with the former con artist's unusual sense of pride.

"You think I'd be hanging out here by myself if I knew where any girls were?" he joked, laughing right up until the point a ghostly fist impacted his chest. Knocked off his feet, he coughed as he tried collecting himself. Before he had a chance to ask what that was for, he recoiled in horror at the pair of human lips that had grown on the point of impact.

"I pee in the shower all the time," they said, horrifying Kobayashi. "I once got really turned on seeing one of those animal people in a cartoon and I still don't know why." He began to scream, trying to cover the mouth to prevent it from airing out any of his other secrets.

"This is very informative, but I think we should focus on questions related to Shizuka," Giorno said, Sheila E nodding in agreement. Over the years, she'd managed to refine her Stand's ability to a degree, allowing her to probe for information inside a target rather than simply force out their secrets at random.

Kobayashi's panic was slowly overtaken by anger. These people had Stands by the looks of it, which meant they were definitely out to hurt that kid. More importantly, they were making a fool out of him. He couldn't just let that pass.

Biting as hard as he could on the inside of his cheek, he split the blood out of his mouth and fell back to his knees. "M-my insides!" he whimpered, clutching at his chest. "You...you're killing me!"

"What are you even talking about?" Sheila E questioned. "I didn't hit you nearly hard enough to do any real damage!"

"All this blood..." he said, his voice quivering. "My ribs...feel all broken. It hurts so much..."

A seed of doubt growing inside her, Sheila E made the foolish decision to ask, "Is he okay? Did I..." No sooner had she gone quiet did a metal lock affix itself to her chest, the pin sliding into place to seal it against her. "What did...it's so heavy!"

"That's right! That's what you get!" Kobayashi stood back to full height, splitting the remaining blood out of his mouth as the lips on his chest withered. "That'll teach you to mess with me! How would you like it if people just went around beating you up? Feel guilty yet?"

Tilting his head to the side, Giorno laid a hand on Kobayashi's face, a tingling sound emitting from inside his body. "That's interesting," he said with a smile. "You were barely hurt at all. I think I also healed an ulcer in your stomach."

Panic returning, he saw The Lock release from Sheila E, her innocence proven and any residual damage she was responsible for now entirely gone. "Trying to trick us, huh?" she asked, marching over to the man and grabbing him just as Shizuka had done earlier. "GioGio, I'm starting to get pissed off. Let's take him somewhere else and make him talk already."

He merely shook his head, placing a hand on her arm to have her lower him to the ground. "Sir, you have a surprising amount of bravery. I can tell you're most certainly a loyal friend to Shizuka. That's exactly why we need to find her ourselves."

To Kobayashi's confusion, the man in front of him began to take off his shirt. Unzipping the front, he turned around and let his clothing go slack around his shoulders, revealing the distinctive star-shaped birthmark of the Joestar lineage. "As you can see, I mean no harm to you or Shizuka. I am her ally and only wish to ensure she's safe."

Josuke had a mark just like that on his back, too. A random criminal wouldn't know that, let alone that it would hold any meaning to someone like Kobayashi. "I guess I can believe that," he said, suddenly beginning to feel very foolish for even trying to impede these two in their goal.

"Will you tell us which way she's gone?" he asked in a friendly tone.

"Sure, uh...I sent her to a guy I know called Shimura Minato. He was a nobody back in the day, just kind of collecting information, but once the internet got big, he stopped leaving the house. Now he sort of knows everything that's going on in Morioh."

Giorno nodded. "If that's the case, you've likely directed her to exactly who she needs to see. Thank you for that."

"No problem!" he said, scratching the back of his head bashfully. "Just being a pal!"

"What's the address already?" Sheila E said, her annoyance at all the time wasted growing by the second.

"Right, sorry! You can find him here." He wrote down the address on a napkin from his coffee, handing it to Giorno. "Hope you guys get what you need from him. Oh, but be careful! I forgot to say this earlier, but he's probably got a Stand, too! I'm not sure what it is, but it seems pretty tough."

"We'll be careful," Giorno said. "For your trouble, feel free to keep the money from before." He and Sheila E walked off, Kobayashi thanking them and celebrating his good fortune as they left. "We'll need to hurry," he said once they were out of earshot.

"Can't believe she actually found the stuff you planted on her. Guess she's smarter than we gave her credit for."

"She is family, after all." Looking up and down the street, Giorno spotted a car coming towards them. "We don't have time to walk, so I think we should borrow that vehicle."

With a nod, Sheila E jumped into the street, arms spread wide to ensure the driver saw her in time to slam on the brakes. "What the hell is wrong with you!" he screamed, shaking his fist from the driver's side window.

"Sorry, but we'll need to borrow your car," Giorno said as he let himself into the backseat.

"Listen here, you little punk!" the man barked in all his middle aged fury. "Get out of here before I call the cops on you and that crazy lady in the road!"

"Better do what he says," Sheila E said from the passenger's side next to him, having climbed in through the window while he wasn't looking. "My boss is a pretty easygoing guy, but I've got a hell of a temper. Keep running your mouth and I might just kill you." She whipped out a switchblade and held it against the man's chin to demonstrate how serious she was, the encounter with Kobayashi and being subjected to his Stand having riled her up quite a bit.

"There's no need for violence," Giorno said calmly. "I'm sure this man would be more than happy to take us where we need to go, right?" He said this in a way that gave the driver little choice, the underlying message being that he'd better be happy about it, or else.

"Y-yes sir!" the man said, turning his head forward and gripping the steering wheel for dear life. "W-where are w-we going, sir?"

"This address, please." He handed him the slip of paper, the driver hitting the gas and making a u-turn in the middle of the street.

* * *

Meanwhile, Shizuka had already arrived at the unassuming home of Shimura Minato. Outside of the drawn curtains, overgrown lawn, and general lack of care that went into maintaining it, nothing was all that unusual at first glance. Even so, Shizuka chose to take a more cautious approach to getting inside.

Completely invisible, she made her way up to the front door, patrolling around to see if there was any signs of life coming from one of the windows. Everything looked dark, though, leading her to question whether or not this guy was even still alive.

Using a pocket knife to unlock one of the windows, she climbed inside, moving slowly and carefully to minimize the noise she made and closing everything up after making it into the house. Almost immediately, stealth proved to be difficult to maintain, the stench of rotting garbage hit her like a Stand rush.

Similar to the outside, it didn't seem like anyone was taking care of the interior of this place. Trash was strewn about the floor with around an inch of dust covering most surfaces. Empty takeout boxes, some of them fairly fresh, at least confirmed he hadn't yet keeled over somewhere deeper in. With that in mind, she began to approach a set of stairs leading deeper into the building.

Shizuka had taught herself to walk as ninja did shortly after she'd learned to walk at all. It just made sense given her ability. Combining her power of invisibility with the skill to walk without noise, she rendered herself almost entirely silent wherever she went.

That's what she thought, at least. "Why are you in my house?" a deep, slightly raspy voice said from behind a closed door. Shizuka immediately pressed herself against a wall, keeping her breathing calm despite the initial moment of fear she always experienced upon being found while invisible. "You want to answer me?"

She remained silent, trying to figure out when and how he would have known she was there. Did she make too much noise coming inside? Maybe he saw her disappearing on the sidewalk and just got lucky with the timing of her arrival.

"You're looking for something," the voice said again, shocking her further. "Let's see… Well, that's something." Desperate for answers, Shizuka began to look all around her, finally spotting something floating a few feet above her in the air. It was a pink and white mechanical object barely the size of a softball, a pair of wing-like panels flapping at incredible speed as a single green eye was locked firmly onto where she stood.

"Oh, you noticed," the man said, likely being the Shimura she'd come to find. "That's my Stand, Satellite of Love. I'm not going to tell you what it does, obviously, but I will say that it locked onto you the second you set foot on my property. Be as invisible as you like, Shizuka Joestar, you can't lose it."

He knew her name now. What was that thing doing to let him know all that? Seeing no other option, she charged toward the door, hoping to demand answers from this guy in person. As soon as she grabbed the knob, though, thousands of volts of electricity ran through her body.

Knocked backwards, her invisibility was undone as she lay convulsing on the ground. "You shouldn't come into someone's room without permission," he scolded her. "You might see something shocking. Now pick yourself up and try another way. That's what you're planning to do."

Gritting her teeth, she rolled over and pushed herself off the ground. Satellite of Love was still hanging above her, a fact that only served to piss her off even further. "Shizuka Joestar," he said, almost like he was reading off some kind of file. "You're twelve. Originally Japanese but you were taken to America as a baby. Adopted by Joseph and Suzy Q Joestar. You're a Stand user with the power to turn things disappear."

He continued with an amused laugh. "You grit your teeth when you're mad, but especially when you get nervous. You're self-conscious because the other girls in your class seem like they're more developed than you. You're scared of water and never learned to swim. And it looks like you're here to find answers about your past."

"Why don't you stop being a coward and come out here?" she said, kicking at the wall. "I could tell you a lot more about myself while I beat some answers out of you. That sounds like a fair trade."

He laughed again. "I'm fine in here, thanks. You're a fascinating specimen, little girl. If you play nice, I might let you leave here when I'm done studying you."

She scoffed at this, watching Satellite of Love flit about overhead, trying to find a pattern in its movements. "Yeah, this thing sure seems like it could hurt me. You'll have to do a lot better than a bunch of traps on doorknobs to kill me."

"You mean like this?" he asked mockingly, Satellite of Love's eye splitting in two to fire a beam of pink energy toward Shizuka. Guarding it didn't seem to matter, as the beam went into effect the moment it touched her arms as they covered her head.

Unlike her expectation, it wasn't a simple offensive attack for an otherwise harmless Stand, but a distillation of all the knowledge it had collected from her so far. Forced directly into her brain, it overloaded her thoughts and sent her to the ground in a frenzy. Shizuka screamed and clawed at the sides of her head, her thoughts and senses seeming to swirl into a vortex of nonsense as she was temporarily rendered unable to comprehend anything.

Fortunately, her enemy was just toying with her, the effect dissipating within a few seconds. "That's interesting. You've apparently got a crush on someone named Yukako. I wonder who that is."

She beginning to get sick of this man's pompous attitude and flagrant disregard for her privacy. Whether or not she got what she came here for became a secondary priority to breaking down that door and beating him to a pulp. Clenching her fists, she stood back up, her sights set on Satellite of Love above her.

Taking a few deep breaths to focus her mind, Shizuka prepared for a counterattack. "Achtung Baby," she said quietly, the air around her beginning to shimmer and crackle as a shape vaguely similar to her own appeared behind her. Inhaling deeply, she exhaled sharply causing an electric-like pulse to pass over her entire body, her Stand appearing in full at the same moment.

As a baby, this Stand was little more than an inherent ability within Shizuka's own body. Like many, though, it evolved overtime to its current form. Similar in height to its user, Achtung Baby was now a pink and purple humanoid with an elongated head not unlike the hammerhead shark. Standing on two thin, mechanical legs, it had four arms to match, none of its limbs looking like they could pack much power.

Despite this, she was utterly confident in her ability to defeat her enemy.

* * *

Have another chapter since it took me a bit to update last time.

Kobayashi almost being brave here. Koichi's had a positive impact on him over the years after all.

Even after all these years, Sheila E still has a tendency to punch first and ask questions later. She's clearly gotten a little more patience than before considering Kobayashi didn't die immediately after The Lock was gone, though. Baby steps.

Giorno carrying on the Brando family tradition of getting into a random person's car and demanding they drive you places. At least he didn't steal Rohan's motorcycle and two cellphones. Surprisingly hasn't murdered anyone yet, either.

Satellite of Love is a pretty creepy Stand. Can automatically lock onto anyone who steps onto Shimura's property and scan their memories and thoughts, plus the sensory overload cannon. No wonder he's gotten a reputation for knowing things after Keicho shot him.

Achtung Baby finally has a real body. Really wish I could draw, since I'd like to make a picture of it to commemorate this occasion. Shizuka's growing up. Why's she confident about being able to win if all she can do is make things disappear, though?

Thanks for reading. Tune in next time to watch a small child force feed a grown man a satellite. Share if you're enjoying. Always remember to check doors for electrical traps before opening.


	4. Shizuka's Achtung Baby

_Shizuka fights back against Shimura and demands answers._

* * *

Taking another breath, Shizuka's body crackled with energy. Unlike with Holly, Joseph had realized his mistake in keeping his children in the dark about Hamon, regretting that he was the only one capable of using the art when they faced down DIO. Even at his advanced age, he vowed to change that when it came to his second daughter.

That being said, his age certainly created a roadblock in teaching Shizuka. Most of what she knew revolved around proper breathing form that allowed her to generate Hamon to begin with. In terms of physical conditioning, technique, or even the martial art of Sendo, she was almost entirely ignorant.

This wasn't the same as being helpless, though. Inefficient as it was, she came up with her own way of using her meager Hamon. With another exhale, Shizuka bolted from her place on the floor, jumping off the wall to get into range of Satellite of Love.

Even being able to see her forming this plan, Shimura was caught completely off guard at just how fast she'd managed to execute it. While it was only by a small amount, the Hamon circulating through her body had allowed her to enhance her speed and reaction time beyond its normal limits. Though normally used in moments of desperation like catching a full jug of milk with the cap off after it had been knocked off the counter, the combat applications were obvious.

Achtung Baby delivered a powerful strike with its two left fists directly into Satellite of Love's eye as it tried to use its beam attack. "Vi!" it shouted, sending the enemy Stand flying through the bedroom door. Given its unique nature, Shimura himself was unaffected by the damage it had taken, though it still left it largely out of commission in terms of offensive skills.

Cautiously stepping inside, Shizuka finally met the man she'd come to see face to face. He was quite different from what she imagined, being tall and well-groomed despite the absolutely horrid state of his home. Long brown hair was shiny and clean while his clothes were perfectly ironed and coordinated. He'd even taken the time to put on green lipstick.

"Is that all?" she asked, placing a finger to her chin and tilting her head back confidently.

"You'll find my Stand is the least of your worries now that you've crossed the point of no return." These words quickly proved their validity as he pressed a button on his desk, a large iron spike swinging across the entryway prepared to decapitate Shizuka where she stood.

With its low power, Achtung Baby couldn't hope to stop or break the thing. Summoned at the last possible moment, she did manage to push back just enough to only suffer a glancing blow to the side of her face. This knocked Shizuka across the room into a boarded up window, a loud crack ringing out through the room. With how much she was hurting now, she couldn't really tell whether that was the wood or one of her bones.

Reaching up to feel the gash on her head, Shizuka realized her glasses had been knocked off in the scuffle. As she felt around for them on the ground, Shimura used his Stand to knock the still active car battery wires he had hooked up to the doorknob into the path of her hand, electrocuting her all over again.

As much as it hurt, she realized she could use this to her advantage. Pulling the battery toward her while still being shocked, Achtung Baby used its arms to punch the heavy block towards Shimura's chest, a blow he was barely able to block by crossing his arms in front of him. The force sent him smashing into his computer desk, knocking electronics onto the floor and accidentally causing him to press several more buttons he had prepared.

"This is bad," he said in an almost deadpan voice, several mechanical noises whirring in the background. As he hid under the desk, a closet burst open as a large spear launched from it, narrowly missing Shizuka by centimeters as it stuck in the wall beside her. At nearly the same moment, a spike dropped from the attic above into the center of the floor, followed by several areas of the floor giving out like trapdoors that would have sent anyone in those areas falling to the floor below.

Finally, a pair of speakers located beside the desk fired two powerful makeshift cannon shots. Having been jostled around by their owner impacting the desk earlier, one of them was actually aimed toward Shizuka, sending a spray of random metal bits toward her.

"Vi! Vi! Vi! Vi! Vi!" Achtung Baby cried, the Hamon coursing through Shizuka carrying over to her Stand as it worked to deflect the shrapnel. A few nails and a rusted piece of a hinge escaped the punches, sinking into Shizuka's right arm, thigh, and stomach. Adrenaline pumping through her veins, she barely registered this beyond the simple sensation of pressure followed by heat in those areas.

After that, there was no longer anything separating the two of them. Carefully navigating the holes in the ground, Shizuka picked up her sunglasses as she made her way to the desk. Without a word, she had Achtung Baby knock the desk over, grabbing Shimura with its extra set of arms. Any bravado or confidence he had before was gone, an expression of pure terror across his face.

The second she placed her glasses back on her face, her Stand went to work. In a flurry of Hamon-enhanced punches and combat cries, Shimura was pummeled hard enough to send him through the back wall and into the outside. Pointing to where he impacted the ground, Shizuka finished the battle with a simple, "Auf Wiedersehen."

Though no doubt injured, Shimura was still very much alive. The fall itself likely did more damage than Achtung Baby's punches given its naturally weak destructive power. If not for the Hamon passing through him, it likely wouldn't have even broken the wall at all.

This made it all the more strange when he began to scream, rolling over onto his stomach and desperately trying to crawl his way towards his home. "Out-outside!" he said. "I can't...not...they're looking!"

Confused, Shizuka used her Stand to safely descend through the hole smashed in the wall. As she landed, Shimura curled into a ball, begging her to let him go back into his home. "Please...I give up...I don't want to fight..."

"You set off a bunch of death traps to kill me and you want me to just let you go?" As he began to cry, she was filled with a mixture of pity and guilt. With a sigh, she summoned Achtung Baby once more, both of them taking one of his arms over his shoulder and walking him back toward the house. It had also turned the both of them invisible. "You don't want to be looked at, right? Now no one sees us."

Though he was still crying, the begging had stopped. Placing him onto a dusty couch, Shizuka demanded answers. "So, I came here with some questions in mind, but I think the real issue now is why you decided to booby trap a bedroom like that."

"I didn't want anyone to come inside," he mumbled.

"Yeah, I bet you've got tons of people just stomping around your house looking to get in." One look from him forced her to realize the irony of what she'd just said. "Okay, I get it. I probably shouldn't have just come inside like this. Sorry, I...don't really know what I was thinking."

He was quiet for a moment, eventually saying, "Sorry I used my Stand on you like that. It turned into a habit whenever someone would come near my home to see what kind of things they knew, so I didn't think anything of it when I started digging."

"Did you build all that crap by yourself?" she asked.

He nodded. "Like I said, I've gone around picking up interesting information from people for a while. Plus now I've got the internet, so I can look up just about anything I want. I don't even have to leave the house for food or work or anything."

She flopped onto the couch next to him. "Sounds kind of lonely. Can't you at least toss out some of this gross trash?"

"I probably should," he said, the shame he felt for not keeping things tidier more than apparent. It was starting to become clear he had a good number of personal demons that led him to where he is today, Shizuka beginning to realize just how badly she'd screwed up here.

She wanted to apologize again but was too busy doubling over in pain now that the fighting high had worn off. Using every curse word she'd learned in her twelve years of life, she stomped one of her feet and tried to find composure enough to use Hamon. Though she'd never actually managed to do it before, her father had said how it could be used for healing.

"Shit, I really hurt you, didn't I?" Shimura asked. Looking around, he stood up from the couch. "I think I have some bandages or something. I'll...go try to find them." He waited a few moments for a response that didn't come, his former enemy far too busy coughing and sputtering as she tried to breathe deeply to answer.

Luckily, a car pulled up outside at this moment. One look at the hole in the upper levels and various bits of debris littering the ground told Giorno they'd made it to the right place. "Thank you for your service," he said to the driver, tipping him a few thousand yen for his troubles.

Sheila E glared at him one last time just to be an asshole before the two got out, the man quickly speeding off as soon as the pair of lunatics finally let him be. "What do you think happened here?" she asked Giorno.

"Shizuka likely had a fight with this Shimura." He scanned the area as they approached the house. "That hole was made from inside the house given all the objects out here, but I don't see either of them." His expression fell a tad from its baseline neutrality at the sound of something squelching beneath his shoe, discovering fresh blood leading towards the door.

Sheila E used Voodoo Child to kick down the front door, Shimura screaming at the sound of even more people invading his home. "Kid, you alive?" she yelled, hearing a very loud expletive in response. "Looks like we got here in time."

Navigating towards Shizuka's sounds of pain, they came upon her gripping her wounds on the couch with Shimura holding a sad roll of bandages in hand, frozen in place like a deer in headlights. Giorno silently approached Shizuka, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You seem to have had an eventful day," he said, the metal embedded in her flesh falling out of her as her wounds disappeared.

"Heal him, too," she said, overlooking the discovery of Giorno's ability for the sake of sparing Shimura from the wrath that was no doubt about to come.

Though he raised an eyebrow, Giorno nodded. "If you insist," he said, Shimura's injuries vanishing without even a need to make contact.

"So we're not killing this guy?" Sheila E asked, entirely ready to execute the man on the spot.

"No!" Shizuka yelled, pushing past Giorno to stand in from of her. "All he did was defend himself when I broke into his house. I'm the one who screwed up here."

"I probably didn't need to try to kill you," he said, scratching at his wrist, head, neck, and chest out of nervousness, his anxiety shooting up with each new person in his home.

"We're past that," she sighed, rolling her eyes behind her sunglasses. "Everyone just...go! I'll be out in a second." The gangsters looked to one another, utterly perplexed by this whole situation. They did as she said, though, leaving through the space where the door had been earlier.

Turning to Shimura, Shizuka sighed once more. "Look, you don't have to, but can I just ask you a question? I'll leave right after and we won't bother you anymore."

He nodded slowly. "What question?"

"That guy Kobayashi says he used to know you before you stopped leaving the house, and he told me you've got connections with a lot of people who do crimes and stuff. Do you know anything about a group called Centipede?"

His face grew paler than it normally was. "You really don't want to mess with them," he said, evidently knowing their reputation.

"Don't have much of a choice," she replied.

With a grumble, he eventually nodded. "Okay, if you say so. I guess you seem pretty tough, and you've got those two scary people backing you up. When I get my room fixed up, I'll email you everything I've got on them."

"That works," she said. "My-"

"Don't bother, I learned it when I was looking inside your head." She kicked him in the shin. "I'm helping you!"

"Don't look in my brain again," she understandably demanded. "Thanks, though. And sorry about your house. My family's rich, so I'll pay someone to repair it for you."

He sighed, wary at the prospect of more people coming into his home even just to repair it. "I guess that's fine. Just tell me before they get here so I can be prepared."

The two exchanged a nod before Shizuka took her leave, meeting back up with Giorno and Sheila E outside. "I think I'm ready for the hotel now," she said, letting out a long, exhausted sigh.

"I'd imagine so," Giorno said, picking up her suitcase from where she'd left it in the grass. "You've got a room to yourself, so you can relax when we get there." His tone was more stern after this, warning Shizuka, "Please don't run off like that again. I told you before we're only here to help, not hinder you. I don't like to repeat myself, so remember that from now on."

"I got it," she said, waving her hand.

"You'd better," Sheila E told her. "We're not saving you next time. Bleed out on some creep's couch for all I care."

"We'll most certainly come to save you," Giorno reassured her. "It's simply preferable to not have to do so in the first place."

Shizuka rolled her eyes once again, still irritated at her guardians and their overprotectiveness, though she couldn't deny she was grateful about having her injuries healed. Not quite as grateful as Shimura would be, though, his house having miraculously come back together once the strangers left. It was almost like all the damage done to it had been reset back to zero.

* * *

Achtung Baby's Stand cry is German despite the fact she's Japanese and raised by an Englishman and an Italian in America. I thought that was amusing for some reason.

Shizuka holds the distinction of being one of the only Joestars without a power-type Stand. Achtung Baby's maybe a little stronger than she is normally, but given she's twelve and just sort of athletic at best, that's not saying much. Also has the honor of reintroducing Hamon back to the main cast and putting it to work in ways that assist in Stand combat.

She also gets to carry on the family tradition of befriending her enemies. That and openly committing many crimes.

I imagine GER has more abilities than we ever actually got to see in its single appearance in the manga, so I'm going based on the idea that it and Giorno have explored the limits to its powers over the last ten years. Resetting the damage of a house or just about anything doesn't seem all that out of the question, especially since PHF kind of implied that's what he does instead of normal healing these days. Wonder what else it can do now.

Thanks for reading. What's the full extent of Achtung Baby's new power now that it's evolved? Share if you're enjoying. Always remember to just not build deathtraps in your room, since they're very expensive and you're probably just going to kill yourself with one eventually by accident.


	5. Reconvening

_The trio process the events of the day and try to find common ground._

* * *

Shizuka snuggled into bed with her phone, hugging a pillow against her chest as she tried to get comfortable at 7:30 PM. Jet lag had been averted thanks to equal parts impatience to begin her quest and a dangerous Stand battle pushing her forward and wearing her out, respectively.

Shimura had kept his promise, the email she was reading over now being what he'd been able to put together on Centipede. It wasn't a lot but still far more than she could have reasonably expected from a random stranger. While her instincts told her to immediately make a run for it and start investigating, her body told her to keep her ass in bed and sleep.

She wasn't so much physically exhausted given Giorno's ability had completely cured her of all her injuries. That plus a hot bath just a few minutes prior meant she was probably feeling more relaxed than she had in at least a few weeks. Mentally, though, she was about to tap out. Far too much had happened today to just keep charging ahead.

It's not like she felt like arguing with herself at the moment. Laying in a plush bed in a suite all to herself in her favorite Spider-Man pajamas, she probably could have fallen asleep despite how early it was if she concentrated.

That would all be a matter of quieting her mind, though, and that didn't seem to be a possibility for right now. For the first time since arriving in Morioh (or, more accurately, since several weeks prior to her trip), her thoughts had turned to something besides her birth parents. She finally began to ask who, exactly, where the two people in the room next to hers?

She'd trusted that they were at least somewhat reliable; her parents had approved and they were recommended by Jotaro of all people, so what could go wrong? The more she saw of the Italians and their strange behavior, though, the more suspicious she got. Something had to be off, and it wasn't just Giorno's improbably well-maintained hair curls.

She tried searching for Giorno's name online, several articles about a young philanthropist who seemingly emerged from nowhere who'd taken it upon himself to revitalize Italy during its recession. Nothing of substance came up about his past or relationships, though he was apparently rumored to have some sort of mob connections. As for Sheila E, the only results that came back with her name were for a drummer.

This only made the mystery that much more intriguing. Seemingly more pressing, though, was the rumbling in her stomach after the realization she was running solely on yesterday's airplane food and a cup of coffee. Even more pressing than that, however, was the urge to just stay in bed since she was really comfortable at the moment.

The decision to do so was quickly taken out of her hands as a loud series of knocks came from her door. With a groan, she stretched her legs under the covers before sliding out from under them and walking over to open it up. Sheila E stood before her, hand on hip looking particularly irritated by something. "Did that guy send the stuff?" she asked without so much as a greeting. "Also, why am I talking to clothes?"

"Can't this wait until tomorrow?" Shizuka replied, running her hands through her hair and sighing, realizing at that moment she'd reflexively been invisible. This happened fairly often when she took off her makeup, sort of like a reflex. Unlike most people, having her Stand power active like this was actually less strenuous than forcing herself to be visible at all times. "Don't worry about it," she said bluntly.

"Just send it to his phone if he did," she ordered her, already fed up with her escort mission and the bizarre quirks of this girl.

"I'll think about it," she said.

Narrowing her eyes, Sheila E sarcastically remarked, "Nice pajamas."

"I know," she said, either unaware or simply ignoring it was meant to be insulting. "My dad always gets really mad when I wear them. He's big into DC – or, well, sometimes he still calls it National Comics since he's old as hell – so we get into fights over Spider-Man and Superman, but he should know better than that since they've crossed over twice and got to be best friends. But it's like, I think guys like Superman and Wonder Woman are cool, but Spider-Man is just better, you know? His powers are just way more creative and people usually write stories about him that are more interesting. Just...don't read stuff like the Clone Saga, okay? Or..." She paused, shuddering. "One More Day is so bad, I can't even explain it. Awful."

"I have no clue what you're even saying," Sheila E said to cut her off. "Japanese manga is way better, anyway."

She rolled her eyes, still not visible even without her sunglasses. "They're just different. One isn't better than the other."

"Manga has way better art."

"The style is just different. And if we're really going to have this argument, you're going to have to take a hard look at Jack Kirby's Fourth World compared to most of the shojo artists out there. Then tell me what has the better style."

"I don't even read that genre," she said, almost insulted as if girlish romance was beneath her, though the secret stash she hid in her room back home would beg to differ. "Ito Junji, Nagai Go, Shirow Masamune – Americans just can't compete with guys like that, art or otherwise."

"We all liked Devilman, okay? But Nagai's art is really simple most of the time even if he can make really good panels when he wants to. You can have Ito, though. He's real good, but I don't like his stuff because it's too scary."

She scoffed, taking a haughty tone. "Too scary for you? Guess that explains it. You're just not mature enough to appreciate this kind of stuff, so no wonder your tastes are like this."

"Look, you want a good superhero story? Kraven's Last Hunt. Art is by Mike Zeck who's fantastic, and it's pretty edgy so someone like you would probably be into it. Read that and then talk shit if you're still not convinced."

"Maybe I will." The two stood with their arms crossed glaring at one another (or as close as they could get with one of them being invisible), the realization that they'd finally had a conversation lasting more than a couple sentences beginning to set in. It was rather spirited at that, something they both found uncomfortable given they were supposed to dislike each other for various reasons. "Like I said, send the stuff to GioGio when you get it."

As she turned to leave, Shizuka spoke up. "Wait. I have a question." Sheila E looked over her shoulder, still wanting to get out of there. "I mean...who are you people?" She turned around, eyebrow raised. "You're supposed to be babysitting me, and Giorno's supposed to be part of my family, but no one ever told me how you're even related to me or why anyone trusts you. I mean, just...are you part of the mafia?"

"Nice stereotype," she said with a scoff.

"No, it's what I read while I was looking you two up. If it's a lie, then sorry, but just tell me the truth. I deserve to know that."

"You _deserve_ it, huh?" She tried to give her a dismissive glare but failed after a few seconds. It was hard to say she was wrong in this instance; Sheila E certainly wouldn't put up with not knowing anything about a partner on a mission, at least. "Fine, let's get this settled."

Gesturing with her head, she told Shizuka to follow her to the next room. Knocking politely a few times before going inside, they found Giorno reaching into a bag of barbecue potato chips on the couch, casually watching an anime about superheroes and product placement. "Hello," he said to the two. "Care to join me?"

"She wants to know who we are," Sheila E told him, scratching her head awkwardly. "You want to handle this?"

He smiled, wiping his hands off with a handkerchief before nodding. "I'm sorry. I suppose someone should have explained the situation to you earlier, Shizuka." He stood up and walked over to the two, giving a small signal for Sheila E to close the door for privacy's sake.

It was somewhat obvious what she'd picked up on by now. Their brutal methods, wealth, the casual way he'd mentioned they had "people" during their first meeting – all of it added up to one thing, and he saw it written on her face. "First of all, I believe you're correct in assuming we're gangsters." She tensed up, understandably feeling a bit unsafe. "If you'd allow me a chance to explain further, I'm sure we can come to an understanding."

"What's there to explain?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest as a clear indicator she wasn't interested in any justification.

He'd have to find a way to change that if they were to continue working together. "Well, I would hope you might be willing to entertain the idea that we're not simply criminals intent on harming others. You may not believe this, but my organization only works with the best interests of Italy and her people in mind."

"Wait, it's your organization now? You're, like...the mafia don?"

He chuckled, realizing that may have been a bit much to throw at her without warning. "You could say that, I suppose. As I said, though, I've only worked to enrich my country, not to harm others or accumulate unneeded power."

"But you still do, right? You steal and kill people, right?" This could be bad if it continued down this path. Even mostly invisible, it was obvious Shizuka was sizing the two of them up for an escape. As of right now, all she knew about Gold Experience was that it had the ability to heal wounds, so she likely considered him a lesser threat to Sheila E whose powers were still a complete unknown.

Ideally, no violence would break out at all, but Giorno needed to start forming a plan to prevent anyone coming to harm if it did. Ultimately, honesty seemed to be the best way to go. Trying to lie or twist the facts would just make the situation worse.

His expression grew stern, Giorno deciding to simply come out and agree with her. "That's true. I'll admit to having done many things that you'd likely object to in order to gain my position. I can't deny that I haven't stolen or killed before."

Considering Shizuka was still standing in one place and not attacking either of them, he considered his words a minor success and continued speaking. "I can't ask that you understand me or my dream fully. I only ask that, as a member of your family, you trust that I would never harm you. My intentions are and have only ever been to assist you on your journey."

"How are we even related?" she asked, her hands balled into fists. "Are you even a part of my family? I...I don't even think so. I've never met you, and why would Jotaro trust a guy like you?"

Her thoughts were racing now, images of Giorno having murdered her true relative and taken his place for unspecified reasons no doubt floating in her brain. To counter this, Giorno unzipped his shirt, revealing his birthmark just as he'd done earlier. "I hope this is proof enough that my blood is related to the Joestar family," he said.

Though she was anything but relaxed, she did seem to be a bit pacified by this, or at least perplexed at how a supposed fake could have what was very clearly a birthmark exactly like other members of her family. "Based on our family tree," he continued as he clothed himself, "I would be something like your great uncle. Before I say more, how much do you know about your family's past? Particularly, what do you know of a man named DIO Brando?"

Her reaction to this was a good sign, more akin to curiosity than the panic or anger she'd shown before. "He was our enemy," she said bluntly. "Tried to kill all of us. But Jotaro stopped him."

Giorno nodded. "That's true. Before that happened, though, DIO was active for several years. During that time, he managed to conceive a number of children, one of them being myself." Her eyes widened at this revelation. "Given that DIO possessed the body of Jonathan Joestar at the time, that is how our complicated relation came to be."

"Why didn't anyone tell me about this?" she shouted, clearly hurt and confused by being kept in the dark possibly by everyone she knew. "No one thought to tell me this before they sent me to be around you? The son of the guy who tried to kill my dad and my nephew and everyone else?"

"I can't answer that," he said. "Perhaps they were hoping it would stay a secret, or maybe they simply wanted me to explain it to you once we met. Regardless, I'm sorry that this came as such a surprise."

"I don't get it," she said, rubbing the sides of her head and grinding her teeth.

Kneeling down, he put himself at eye level to her, or at least where that would probably be. "Shizuka, I understand this is confusing for you. If you're feeling overwhelmed by all this information, we can continue the conversation later. I'll answer every question you have to the best of my ability when you feel capable.

"I'm fine," she said, slightly insulted at how patronizing that sounded. "I just...I don't get it. Any of this. Why would...you're a criminal."

Giorno nodded. "I am, indeed. This may sound dubious given I'm the one saying it, but criminality does not necessarily mean someone is evil. I'm sure you've experienced enough law-abiding citizens who are just as nefarious as any criminal you might know of." Obviously, this was true.

"Criminal as I may be, I hope you can trust that my blood is the blood of the Joestars – of Jonathan Joestar himself. I've earned the trust of Jotaro, and I hope to earn yours, as well."

Shizuka thought for a moment before pushing past him and taking a seat on the couch. Though it wasn't clear to any onlookers, she'd placed a finger to her chin in contemplation. "Okay," she finally said. "You're a gangster. I'll believe that you don't think you're a bad person. So explain how you're not to me."

He smiled at the small indication of progress, his expression quickly falling to a frown. "If I'm to be entirely honest, sometimes I struggle with that myself. As I've matured, I've often wondered if all of what I've done has been necessary. Sometimes my emotions got the better of me or I acted irrationally. While what I've done was for the greater good, I still wonder if there was a better way."

"And what have you done?" she asked, finally hitting on the right question.

"When I was not much older than you and, to be precise, during most of my life, Italy was in a state of decline. Crime was rampant, drugs filled the streets, and the economy was far from ideal. The focal point for much of this was a many known as Diavolo, the former boss of my organization, Passione. I entered Passione and joined with a number of others who shared my values, those being to depose the boss and take the organization for myself to reform the country.

"In the end, I managed to achieve my dream. With Passione having expanded to control all mafia activity within the country, crime has fallen, drugs are almost non-existent, and the state of Italy overall has improved in places beyond areas frequented by tourists. I can't claim all of this as my own doing, as many talented individuals within my organization and outside of it have worked hard to make this future, but I will take responsibility for having set this in motion."

His speech was a lot to take in, but it didn't appear to Shizuka that he was lying. While the details of his journey to controlling this Passione organization were likely bloodier than she'd want to think about...his intentions did seem genuine. Whether or not that meant she could trust him, it at least indicated he was a step above some run of the mill street thug.

"I hope that this has convinced you to at least put some degree of faith in me," he said. "If that's not the case, then I'll take it upon myself to find you a more suitable companion for your journey."

"Fine," she relented. "I'll...try to trust you. But no one dies, got it? I'm not going to be part of anything like that."

"Not even Centipede?" Sheila E questioned, speaking up for the first time since Giorno began his explanation. "What did you plan to do when we found them? Have a nice tea party?"

"When they tell us about my parents and where they took me from, we can turn them over to the police."

"If that's what you wish," Giorno said. Though he had little faith in the institutions of law, he would abide by Shizuka's wishes. For what it was worth, human traffickers were at least somewhat more likely to face justice through ordinary means compared to other types of criminals, so he did have some confidence in this resolution.

Sheila E, however, was not entirely convinced. "Do you think that's smart?" she asked Giorno. "These guys are scum. They won't hesitate to kill us if they get the chance. They wouldn't even hesitate for a kid like her. Do you think we can afford a handicap like this? It's like trying to hit a home run with a stick you found on the ground instead of a bat."

"No one dies," Shizuka said. "I'll take responsibility for whatever happens because of that, and I won't let them hurt either of you."

"Then it's decided," Giorno said. "Although, we're meant to be the ones protecting you. It would be a bit troublesome if you ended up looking out for us instead."

"That's just what I'm going to do," she said matter-of-factly. "We're looking for my parents. You're out here because of me. If we're doing things my way – and we are – then I need to make sure you're not hurt by any of this. It would leave a bad taste in my mouth if something happened to one of you because you were helping me."

Sheila E scoffed. "As if we need your protection." Despite this, she was the tiniest bit impressed by Shizuka's resolve. Her dedication to not killing seemed laughable, but standing firm in her beliefs was something she could respect. "But if GioGio's not going to complain about it, I guess there's no objections from me, either."

While she had her doubts about whether or not these two would really keep their word, Shizuka wanted to put her trust in them. Maybe it was just her sentimentality showing through and she was already starting to bond with the pair of strangers, but she chose to believe Giorno's words despite his criminal affiliation. "Then I guess we're on the same page," she said.

"If it makes you feel any better, think of it like the time your father allied with the Germans in the 30's," Giorno added to try and reassure her. "Though I'd hope we'd be a bit more well-regarded than Nazis no matter how much you might dislike our occupation."

Shizuka literally had to do a double take, the words he'd just said taking several seconds to fully register with her. "My father did what now?"

"Were you...not aware?" Giorno asked, realizing he might have let slip a bit of a family shame. "Well, in desperate times, Joseph Joestar was forced to ally with the Nazis in order to take on enemies known as the Pillar Men. My research into the Joestars found that information several years ago. I assumed you'd be aware of that."

"Of course not!" she said. "Why did...what...how?"

"I don't know all the details," he replied. "I'm not saying he enjoyed it, of course. I'm sure it was a difficult moral dilemma for him."

"Oh, God," she said, barely hearing what Giorno had said. "That Stroheim guy he mentioned...the guy who made his hand...he was an actual goddamn Nazi!"

"Wasn't there that Caesar guy, too?" Sheila E added, having recalled him from some of the background material Murolo supplied her before they set out on this journey. "He was, like, into the fascist regime, right? Pride in the homeland, palling around with the Germans, all of that stuff?"

"Caesar, too?" Shizuka lamented, the sweet memories her parents shared of the man now tainted by this revelation. "I have to go call my dad." She sprinted from the room to return to her own, the sound of yelling penetrating through the wall that separated them following several seconds later.

"I certainly didn't expect that to happen," Giorno said, unsure of how to feel after exposing Joseph like that.

"Kind of got the feeling you didn't expect much of this conversation to begin with," Sheila E said. "That's not like you."

With a smile, he agreed. "I suppose that's true. It's an interesting feeling if nothing else, having a more difficult time reading someone. This mission may be more enriching than I anticipated."

"You think so?" she asked, plopping down on the couch and stealing some of his chips. Personally, she wasn't too concerned about the enrichment she could get from a simple mission so long as it was completed. Right now, though, what she was actually concerned with (though she wouldn't admit it) was pulling out her phone to look up some Spider-Man comics.

* * *

Took me a bit longer to get this one done than anticipated. Really had some trouble writing Giorno's half of the conversation for some reason since it didn't seem authentic at first, but I think I got it right in the end.

For the record, I actually have no problem with shojo manga even if I'm typically not that interested in it. That's the character talking and not me. Same with Spider-Man, since I actually hate Peter Parker (of 616, at least). I'm trying to think of another excuse to have her get into comics and stuff since it was pretty fun to write her just being the huge nerd she is when she's not doing her best to seem tough and mature. Into the Spider-Verse is going to blow her fucking mind in 6 years.

Probably siding with Joseph here since I've always been more into DC and Batman in particular, though my favorite American comic book character might be John Constantine from the early Vertigo days. But if we're including stuff like the DCAU it's just 100% Batman since Kevin Conroy and everyone who worked on those shows made the character in a way that nothing else ever has.

No one really talks about how it's kind of fucked up that Caesar was sort of a fascist, right? Like, Italy was controlled by Mussolini and allied to Nazi Germany, but he goes on and on about being a proud Italian and all that shit. His best friend was Mark the Nazi, too. That's kind of fucked.

I could dunk on Caesar and Joseph for both being kind of shitty people all day, but I'll stop here. Thanks for reading. Share if you're enjoying. Always remember to appreciate Gwen Stacy.


	6. The First Lead

_Shimura's information leads the group to their first lead on tracking down Centipede._

* * *

"That looks like him," Sheila E said, her eyes moving between the picture on her phone and the man sitting at the table of the nearby cafe.

"Then let's get him," Shizuka demanded, Giorno grabbing her shoulder to keep her from running out of the alleyway they'd hidden in without a plan.

He shook his head. "If we attack now, it could cause a scene. We also have no idea if this man is a Stand user, so trying to battle him with so little information would mean trouble. For now, we should simply observe."

Though she agreed, it was still frustrating to see the first real link towards her goal so tantalizingly close by yet so far out of reach. "I could go in close without being seen," she suggested. "Maybe he'll say something that gives us a clue."

After a moment's thought, Giorno nodded. "As long as you can remain invisible, that seems like a good plan." Shizuka disappeared from sight a moment later without so much as a word, blinking out of existence like a poorly edited cut in an old movie. If not for Sheila E's impressive sense of smell picking up the faint scent of perfume and makeup, neither of them would even have a clue as to where she'd gone.

Without his knowledge the man was now being stalked by an irate twelve-year-old holding back the urge to pummel him purely for the need to keep him conscious long enough to talk about the people he was potentially working for. He certainly looked the part of some kind of organized crime figure, magenta suit jacket worn open over a bare chest to show off his perfectly sculpted musculature and the enormous, golden H belt buckle at his waist.

"Goddamn it," he swore, taking an angry sip from a coffee. "Just call already." He scratched his head, taking care not to mess up the seemingly unruly but perfectly styled blond and red spikes on exclusively the right half of his scalp. "Can't believe this is what they call a drink around here. Cup of swill if you ask me."

After a few more minutes of grumbling as he took more and more sips from his cup, the mobile phone in his breast pocket finally began ringing. "Ah, boss," the man said, his attitude doing a complete flip as he began to speak far more reservedly to whoever was on the other side. "Oh, I haven't been waiting long. Just enjoying a cappuccino."

He listened to the voice on the phone, nodding a few times. Shizuka managed to pick out the words "meet" and "car" after leaning in, though she was forced to back off as his head twitched around, seemingly feeling her eyes on his back for a moment.

"Yes, of course, sir," he finally said. "Right away. Goodbye." Replacing his phone in his pocket, he stood up from the table and tossed a few bills onto the table. Starting down an alley across from the two, Shizuka briefly turned visible to signal that he was alone. Though a few other customers noticed a girl appear from nothing and vanish as soon as a pair of Italians came running toward where she'd been, this was Morioh and they accepted that as just something that was going to happen that day.

Giorno quickly subdued the man, touching the side of the building to his right to form a set of vines out of the brick. The criminal was caught by them before he even knew what was happening, the plants pulling him against the wall and binding his hands and legs all at once. "W-what's-" He wasn't even allowed to finish his expression of alarm as another vine grew across his mouth.

Shizuka became visible again, grabbing his collar and shouting, "Who are you working for?"

"Chill out, kid," Sheila E said, separating her from the enemy. "You've got to be calm about all of this. That's the only way you get information."

"Indeed," Giorno agreed as he caught up to the two. "Shizuka, would you mind checking the area around us? This man might have allies, so it wouldn't do if we were caught by surprise while interrogating him."

This logic seemed sound. Nodding, she turned invisible once more, Sheila E giving a nod of her own once her smell drifted away. "I'd rather she wasn't around to see what's about to happen," Giorno said, casually taking a few pebbles and scraps of paper littered in the alley. "I should explain myself," he told the man. "We're looking for information about the organization you work for, Centipede. If you're willing to talk to us, blink twice."

The man remained stoic, his brow furrowing in a show of defiance. "I can admire your loyalty, but I warn you that that is a foolish path to take." Without another word, he forced once of the rocks under the man's right thumbnail. He grunted in pain, though it was hardly enough to make him crack. At least, that's what he thought before he began to feel an incredibly pressure underneath nail.

Muffled as he was, he tried his hardest to scream as a small shrub began to break through his nail, its roots forcing their way into his skin as the rock was given life. "This will only continue so long as you resist us. Blink twice if you'd like it to stop."

Sweat pouring down his face, the man did his best to shake his head. Weak as he was, he knew the consequences for squealing on his superiors. "So be it," Giorno said calmly, forcing another rock under his right index finger. Instead of a plant, this one became a wasp, immediately stinging his tender skin several times due to its own discomfort before buzzing and thrashing futilely in the confined space.

"He's putting up a fight," Sheila E commented, clearly amused at his pain. As sadistic as it was to admit, she loved watching the boss work. Every moment reinforced the idea that he was absolutely in control. It wasn't so much a matter of if someone would talk, but when.

Sliding some paper under the middle finger, it quickly transformed into a small sea urchin, blood spurting from his wound as dozens of tiny spines stuck into him. This was his – and most people's – breaking point, coincidentally timed precisely to Shizuka's return. Without so much as a gesture, the man's hand repaired itself as the damage was reset to spare her from the gruesomeness of their methods.

"No one that looked suspicious," she said after returning to a visible state.

"Good to know," Giorno said with a nod before turning to their captive. "You're ready to talk now, correct?"

As the vine removed itself from his mouth, he gasped for air. "You people are monsters," he whimpered. All the same, he was indeed ready to talk. Gritting his teeth, he finally asked, "What do you want to know?"

"Where's your boss?" Shizuka demanded.

Though he was hesitant to say anything, just hearing the sound of Giorno clicking together a pair of pebbles in his hand convinced him it was for the best. "We were going to meet up. In two hours. He was sending a car like normal. Just a regular taxi so it didn't seem suspicious. I don't even think the drivers know what they're doing."

"Where's the car going to be?" she continued, eager for the chance of exacting revenge against someone higher up in their group.

"Down by the port."

"Think he's lying?" Sheila E asked, pressing up against Giorno's back and laying her arms over his chest for no particular reason. "I could find out the truth if you'd like to confirm, though I can't guarantee he'll survive. It takes a strong will to resist my ability and your will doesn't seem that strong."

"There won't be any killing," Shizuka reminded her. "Besides, he's telling the truth. I heard his boss say something about a meeting by car while he was on the phone. He wouldn't have known I was listening, so he's not lying."

Giorno nodded. "Very true. Then we've got one more question for you. Tell us about the Stand powers of everyone in your organization that you know of."

Judging by his panicked expression, he both knew of Stands and the people in his group who possessed them. Though he wasn't fortunate enough to have one himself (explaining his position as one of the lowest of the low in the group), he'd been unfortunate enough to learn the gist of several of his comrades powers over the years.

"I can't tell you that!" he exclaimed. "If I tell you...my boss, he'll-"

"Do something that's not nearly as bad as what we'll do to you if you don't tell us," Sheila E explained. "GioGio, most guys have about seven open holes on their bodies, right? Think about what your ability could do if we put some stuff in there."

Shizuka didn't exactly understand what that was supposed to mean, but this seemed to get the man talking again. "Okay, okay! Just...don't do anything like that!" Swallowing hard, he sighed. "Fine, you win. There's a lot of Stand users in Centipede, but I only know about four of them. My boss..." He blinked a few times. "My...boss..." He mouth slowly fell open, eyes drifting into two different directions.

Suddenly, blood began running from each of his nostrils, head slumping forward suddenly. "What happened?" Shizuka asked, looking to her allies and then around the alley. "Did you do this?"

"I didn't," Giorno said, reaching up to feel the side of the man's neck. He clenched his teeth. "He's dead."

"Then...then fix him!" Shizuka ordered. "No one dies, remember? We're not supposed to be killers."

"It wasn't us who killed him," he explained. "If I had to guess, it was the boss he was about to talk about. His Stand power likely has something to do with mental suggestion, especially if we take what he said about the drivers 'not knowing' what they were doing in driving him places to mean they aren't acting under their own power."

He shook his head. "It must have activated when he tried to reveal the Stand to us. Likely automatic in nature, so at least he won't be waiting for us."

"Can't you at least fix him? You healed me before. Shimura, too."

"That's not a correct assessment of my powers. I can return actions to zero within my effective range. Essentially, if someone were to shoot me with a gun, my Stand, Gold Experience Requiem, would make it so that action never took place to begin with."

"So you can return him to zero, right?"

He shook his head. "My Stand is strong, but it's not all powerful. There's only so long I have to reset an action before that action is, in fact, a reality. I was careless and didn't realize what was happening quickly enough. It's out of my control now, as this man is truly dead. I apologize for that and I take full responsibility."

Shizuka took a few steps back, eventually falling to her knees in shock. She'd never seen anyone die before, and the confirmation that this man was well and truly dead was more than she could handle. He was her enemy, for sure, but did he really deserve to die such an unceremonious and thoughtless death?

"GioGio, can you take his phone?" Sheila E asked, her boss nodding and retrieving the device from his pocket as the vines set him to the ground and returned to their normal state. He tossed it to her, her Stand appearing to shout, "Eri!" as it gave a small chop to the device, smacking it to the ground and breaking the screen. It wasn't the phone itself she was after, of course, but it still seemed a bit unnecessary to be so flashy.

A pair of lips matching the man's formed on the cracked screen. "Yes, sir," they began to say. "Yes, that's right. A boatload of them, all packed into the container like you ordered. It was so easy after you used your power. None of them even put up a fight."

"It looks like my suspicions were correct," Giorno said, this overheard conversation seeming to confirm that their enemy had some kind of hypnotic suggestion ability. "Even so, I can't take much solace in that fact given what we're hearing."

"A boatload of people?" Sheila E said with disgust. "Where did they even come from? How are these bastards trapping so many people, and where are they even sending them?"

"Given we're in Japan, it's likely to be a nearby country like China. Forced labor, especially in the fishing trade, isn't uncommon for victims like this. It's also possible they might simply be in a different part of the country for a number of other occupations, essentially working like slaves for whoever might be buying them."

"This is wrong," Shizuka said, removing her glasses and trying not to cry. "I just...all I wanted was to find my parents, but now...how can people do stuff like this?"

"It's truly deplorable," Giorno said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Shizuka, if you need time to recover, we'll take you to the hotel. Sheila E and I can handle the rest for now."

Clenching her fists as tightly as she could, she stood up once more and replaced her sunglasses. "No, this is my responsibility. I'm not going to quit just because of this." She arched her back and leaned backward, keeping her head pointed forward as she placed her left hand fingers first to the center of her chest, letting her right fall to her side. "In fact, I'm making it my mission to put an end to Centipede. They hurt me and so many others. I can't let them do what they want in my hometown or the country I was born in."

Giorno had to smile at this, her show of resolve bringing him back to his earliest days as a gangster. "I agree. This place may not be under the control of Passione, but I can't abide the actions of such heinous people. We'll support you in any way we can." Sheila E nodded in agreement, growing more impressed with the girl than she'd like to admit.

The three left the alley before anyone could spot them, calling the police shortly after to report the man's death. Though she had no reason to care, it put Shizuka's mind at ease to know he'd receive something akin to a proper funeral despite his evil ways.

That was of little concern now, though. They'd finally found a lead to Centipede. Their next move was to head to the port and prepare for the battle that was sure to come.

* * *

We're back with another exciting episode of this shit.

It's kind of surprising no one's died before now considering none of these kids actually know what they're doing. To break it down: Sheila E has no brain cells, Giorno has five but uses four of them keeping the others in line (which is also why Mista can't be here), and Shizuka has two but dedicates one and a half at all times to memorizing Spider-Man trivia. All in all, they're still about half a brain cell better off than Bucciarati's team ever was.

Speaking of Mista, Giorno's learned some creative torture methods from him. Gold Experience has a lot of uses. So many that it can become a hassle trying to have conflict at all without DIO attaining Heaven. It's going to be interesting to try and find believable workarounds to GER's zero.

Thanks for reading. Share if you're enjoying. Always remember to bring a stereo when you torture.


	7. Mind Melt

_The group goes to confront the next member of Centipede at the port while looking for answers._

* * *

The three piled into the back of the taxi, waiting just like the man from before said it would be. His assumption that the driver wasn't fully cognizant of his actions also seemed to be on point given he barely conversed with them and didn't seem to have any objections about the sudden increase in passengers.

"What are we going to do when we get there?" Sheila E asked Giorno, already itching for a fight.

"We have a few options depending on whether or not this man is expecting us," he replied, considering the potential outcomes of different approaches. "If we assume that his Stand can be used remotely, we'll have the element of surprise. He'll simply expect his subordinate to arrive at the stated time. If it was a conscious choice, however, then he'll be expecting an attack."

Then he added, "And, of course, there's always the possibility he'll see us coming once we arrive. Without more information, it's hard to say what the most likely course of action will be." Looking to Shizuka, he deferred to her judgment. "Do you have anything you'd like to say? We'll follow your orders if you wish to lead."

She thought for a moment, trying to figure out what to say to seem like she had any idea at all what she was doing. This situation was rapidly spiraling out of control and she wasn't prepared at all to deal with it. All she wanted to do was try to find some idea as to who her parents might have been, but now she's allied with the mafia to take down a human trafficking ring.

"Well..." she began, pausing to try and collect the random assortment of ideas and thoughts into a coherent statement. "I could become invisible. Even if he knows that someone else is coming, maybe he doesn't know how many people it will be. If I use my Hamon on him at close range, I could knock him out before he has a chance to do anything."

Giorno nodded with a smile. "And once incapacitated, we can question him later on. This plan has a good chance of success."

"Guess it's the best we've got for now," Sheila E said, folding her arms behind her head. "How much longer is this guy going to take getting us to the place?" Unlike what one would expect, they did not arrive at their destination moments later. Rather, the car continued on its circuitous route through the city for another twelve minutes, the tension not so much growing as much as boredom was mounting.

Once they finally did reach their destination, Sheila E was absolutely furious. "This was just a big circle!" she screamed, kicking the driver's seat. "Hey, you just took us back to the port, jackass! Drive us to the real place now!"

"Thank you for riding with us today!" the driver said cheerfully. "I hope to see you again soon!" He clearly had no input as to what he was telling them, so being upset with him would do little.

Thankfully, Giorno cracked the case. "I see. That's almost clever."

"What is?" Shizuka asked, just as confused as Sheila E.

"Whoever held this meeting is cautious. He's set things up to make the port seem like the start instead of the destination when really he's been here the entire time. This would allow him to confirm that the one who steps into the car to be taken back here is actually a member of his group."

"Right, and the phone call," Shizuka added. "He said there were people here. He specifically said it was a 'boatload', too. Where else would you ship things by sea than at the port?"

"Precisely," he told her. "Of course, that means the enemy is already waiting for us."

"I wasn't following most of that," Sheila E confessed, "but I at least know what that means. What's our plan now?"

Giorno tapped a finger against his chin. "For now, let's continue with our plan. Even if he notices one of us is missing, it shouldn't help him find Shizuka while she's invisible." The two of them nodded before Shizuka herself seemed to blink from existence once more. "I'll take the lead," he said while opening the door, holding it for the other two.

As he saw the taxi off, Giorno's eyes spotted something at the curb. "One moment," he said while bending down. "I need to tie my shoelaces."

"Oh, sure," Sheila E said, realizing moments later that Giorno's shoes lacked laces. Even so, she didn't question her boss' decision. It probably let Shizuka get into a better position, too.

Once that was taken care of, the two entered the port. Seemingly abandoned, they walked by cargo containers and various heavy machinery, all the while keeping their eyes peeled for any signs of something being amiss. This seemed to be little more than wasted effort, though, as their target stood in the center of the port, idly waiting for them while playing with a kendama.

"That driver took too long," he said lazily, squinting hazel eyes focused on the toy in his hand as he bounced the ball from one side to the other. He only made it to three juggles before he messed up, starting again as if his enemies were of no concern standing right in front of him. Whether he simply lacked the coordination to do this properly or the messy violet mop on his head was obscuring his vision wasn't clear.

"You're with Centipede?" Sheila E asked after watching him fail at his trick several more times. Her patience was growing thinner by the second.

"Huh?" he grunted, the ball missing the cup entirely that time. "Oh, yes. If you have to ask that, I'll assume you found one of my grunts and beat some information out of him. I'll also assume he's dead now. Kind of a bummer."

"You don't seem concerned with the well being of your subordinates," Giorno said.

"Why should I be?" he asked, almost seeming genuinely curious about the answer.

"They put their lives on the line to work for you," he answered. "Shouldn't you show them the barest respect after they've died?"

The man chuckled, tucking the toy into a back pocket of his tight black leather pants. "I didn't get where I am today by being concerned about the people below me," he said. Circling his shoulders, impressive musculature bulging beneath the gray, deep V-neck tank top he wore, he then asked, "So, before we get started, I'm kind of curious about you people? What's your beef with my group?"

Giorno cut right to the chase, telling him plainly, "We've learned of your evil actions and are taking it upon ourselves to dismantle your organization."

"All by yourselves?" he asked. This time he appeared concerned. "You do know we have police in this country, right? Ever think of calling them?"

"You know damn well they'd all end up dead," Sheila E told him, eliciting another laugh. "That's funny to you?"

"A little," he answered honestly. "You're probably right, though. My Stand alone could probably topple the government of this country. But if I did that, then we'd all have to be responsible for running it. Who has time for all that? It's much better to carve out a little space you can call your own and do as you please while you live a comfortable life."

"Meaning your goals are little more than self-interest and greed," Giorno said. "Deplorable. I don't know what else I'd expect from people who engage in human trafficking, though."

"A criminal who tells you otherwise is full of shit," he replied, unaware he was talking to another pair of criminals at that very moment. "Either way, I'm not sure what you expected to happen here." The arm of something blue shot out from his right side, grabbing what looked to be nothing more than air and squeezing tightly.

"Shizuka!" Sheila E called out, stopped from running forward only by Giorno's outstretched arm. Despite this, he was clearly a bit shaken at how easily he'd seen through her invisibility and silent movement.

"My Stand is called Mind Melt," the man explained, its full form revealing itself beside him as a deep blue robotic figure, some kind of power pack strapped to its back with wires running up to a skull pulsating with plasma like one of those cheap lightning ball lamps. "Right now, I can sense the location of anything with thoughts in the immediate area, though I can't read them. That's always been kind of a bummer."

He grinned after that. "I'd say I make up for it with my other ability, though. After I touch someone, I'm able to control their brain function. For instance..." With a thought, he deactivated Shizuka's Stand. "Look at that, it's the little girl I saw with you earlier. Thought maybe you just got smart and left her behind."

"Harm her and your fate will be sealed," Giorno warned.

"I won't do anything to her," he said. "She'd be the one doing things. Her brain, at least. It could make her attack you all, kill herself. I could have it shut down, too. That's what you saw happen to my underling, correct? I always like the funny faces people make when they die like that."

"You know what he meant, asshole!" Sheila E told him. "It's your Stand doing it. So either let her go or we're both going to beat you so hard you'll wish we were allowed to just kill you."

"Threats don't work on me," he said plainly. "And, anyway, I don't really see what you can do to me from all the way over there. If I really wanted to end things quickly, I could just snap her neck. See?" His Stand started to squeeze harder, Shizuka beginning to choke.

He looked her over as the other two seethed, frowning. "It's kind of a shame. I figure there's someone out there who might want a girl like this. Killing her seems like a waste. It's like I'm flushing money down the toilet, or...well, I guess a more accurate comparison might be passing up a bet on a horse race when you know it's fixed. I'm not really losing anything, but it's about me not getting something easy." He looked to Shizuka again. "You understand, right?"

This was what she was waiting for, though. "Achtung Baby..." she hissed out. "Shine On!" Her body briefly turned invisible once more accompanied by a massive flash of light. With an ability that bends light around one's body to become invisible, it was a simple matter to realize the effect could work in reverse, that meaning Shizuka could redirect the light the obscured her body into a blinding attack on command so long as the environment provided enough light to do so.

With both Stand and user blinded, Shizuka's Stand materialized and unleashed a rapid fire barrage of punches against the two of them, shouting its signature yell all the while. Though it sent him flying, the enemy seemed to be more durable than anticipated given his quick recovery after rolling into an upright position.

"I'll give you some credit for that," he said while rubbing his eyes. "But my eyes aren't what's tracking you." She immediately realized her error, only then remembering that his Stand had, in fact, blocked most of her attacks by simply sensing her brain activity during the wild rush.

Looking to the side, both Giorno and Sheila E were closing in. "Looks like the real fight starts now," he said, Shizuka's nose shooting blood just as he finished his sentence. Seeing this happen, Giorno immediately changed course, seeming to fly over to her in an instant and lay a hand on her head. Sheila E, though distracted by the sudden attack, remained on course.

This was, unfortunately, precisely what the enemy wanted. "Where are you looking?" he asked mockingly, elbowing her in the stomach just as she turned back to look at him. It didn't much matter in the grand scheme of things, of course. Sheila E was tough and had survived numerous battles, so a hit like that could never hope to take her out of the fight. The damage wasn't important, though; it was the contact he was after.

"Shizuka, are you alright?" Giorno asked, helping her to her feet.

"Yeah, I think you fixed me," she said.

"That's an interesting ability," the enemy said, standing nonchalantly against a container. "But how's that going to work now?" He pointed to Sheila E as she stood in place, entirely motionless. "Are you going to run back and forth between them now?" Just to demonstrate his power, Shizuka also ceased all motion, staring ahead blankly as her brain was overcome once more.

Giorno said nothing, simply looking to their enemy. After a few moments passed, he finally decided to ask, "I'm curious. What is your name?"

"Me?" he said. "I'm no one important. If you're wondering how to address me for begging, don't bother. Though I guess it can't hurt to tell you they call me Towa T in Centipede."

"I see." He nodded his head, then looked to Towa T once more. "I suppose that's all it took to distract you, then." What he meant by this became immediately apparent, a snake hissing from the ground and biting into the enemy's leg. Upon closer examination, the midsection of its body appeared to be made from a red and white brick – a loose segment of the curb Giorno had spotted earlier.

When his Stand evolved, so too did his control over the creatures it created. While a brick given life as a snake would typically do as it pleased, Giorno could also instill commands into his creations if he desired. This is how the ants he created before knew to follow Shizuka and how the snake now knew to approach Towa T.

More importantly, this also meant that his creation did not think. Because of that, there was no way for Mind Melt to sense its approach. With his already lacking eyesight due to Shizuka's earlier attack and Giorno's further distraction, it was a simple matter to wait until the insurance he'd created paid off.

Shaking the creature from his leg, the fight ended. Giorno was more than within range now, the world around the two seeming to fade away as Gold Experience Requiem materialized in front of him. "You won't die," he told him. "This suffering will last for as long as it takes for you to change."

Both Giorno and his Stand let out a single "Muda!" as a punch connected with Towa T's jaw. It hit with such force that he was afraid it might simply rip half his face off, bones and teeth crunching from the impact.

But a moment later, nothing had happened. In fact, he was in perfectly fine health. For a second, he was almost tricked into thinking everything that had transpired was some kind of strange hallucination. And then he was punched a second time.

Just like before, though, the effects of this punch seemed to disappear the moment they took effect. Then, once again, he was hit all the same. It was obvious what was happening by now, the enemy caught in an endless loop of the same attack over and over again. The action itself was rendered null again and again, infinitely repeating over and over again from the perspective of the one trapped inside.

Outside, though, he simply appeared to be standing in place not unlike his earlier victims. No longer able to control them, both Sheila E and Shizuka felt control over their bodies return and quickly ran to Giorno's side to investigate what had happened.

"What did you do to him?" Shizuka asked, a slight hint of fear in her voice.

"At the moment, he's confined to his own reality," Giorno explained. "When he is no longer a threat, he can return. At that point, we should be able to interrogate him." While only a few additional seconds passed for the three outside, it truly felt to Towa T that he'd been attacked for several lifetimes while never being allowed to simply grow numb to the pain given the nature of his prison.

Just as Giorno had promised, he was released from the attack after that. Falling to his knees, he couldn't summon the strength to fight back any further. Beaten in every sense of the word, he would no longer pose a threat to anyone.

"You ready to talk?" Sheila E said, leaning towards him in an unnecessary show of intimidation.

At first, he was silent. This wasn't so much out of stubbornness as it was the need to reorient himself after spending what felt like an unending amount of time being beaten. It wouldn't be inaccurate to say that Giorno had broken him in a way even if none of his wounds existed anymore.

"I kind of thought being in this situation would let me say something like, 'You might be strong, but you can't stand up to my boss.' I'm not sure anymore, though." He chuckled again, clearly having lost any will to resist even passively. "I don't really have a choice anymore."

"Then we wish to know two things," Giorno told him. "First, where can we find your organization's leader? Second, who would have information pertaining to people you've taken over the years? Records dating back at least twelve years or so. You must keep some kind of log, correct?"

"There's only one guy who might be able to help you with that second part. Also might know where the boss is right now. Thing is...I'm not really sure where he is, either."

"Where was he the last time you saw him?" Shizuka asked.

"Last time we met was right after we had to get out of S City," he said, trying his hardest to remember any details. He wasn't afraid of any repercussions for not knowing something; he simply wanted this to be over with as quickly as possible. "I think...yeah, he definitely said something about being near the hospital. Maybe to scope out people. I don't know. The guy always creeped me out, so we weren't exactly friends."

"Do you have his name?" Giorno asked.

"Calls himself Money. Real name is Nishita, or something like that. Like I said, we aren't close."

"Thank you for cooperating," he told him.

Towa T nodded. "So, you guys going to kill me now? Got to say...it might be nice. Better than before, at least."

"We don't kill," Shizuka said immediately, eliciting a laugh. "And one more thing. There are people in these containers, right? Which ones?"

"Sharp," he said, nodding once more. Lifting his arm, he pointed to a pair near the edge of the port. "In those two. My Stand's control is gone now, so they're probably just confused and scared."

"Sheila E, can you open the containers?" Giorno asked. As expected, she quickly ran to them and pried open the doors with her Stand, a collection of very dazed Japanese people walking out and shielding their eyes from the sun. From the looks of things, they probably had no real idea they'd been forced to move into the containers in the first place.

"Our buyers were supposed to show up here tonight if you want to nail them," Towa T added.

"We'll pass that along to the police," Giorno replied.

"And they'll come pick you up, too," Shizuka added.

"Figured as much," he said, laying down onto the ground. "Never been inside before. Wonder what that's like." He rolled onto his side, grabbing the toy from his pocket and attempting his trick again. "If you're done asking me things, I'll just wait here. Don't worry, I'm not going to run. I'm done with all of this."

"Then we'll take our leave, then," Giorno said, calling Sheila E back. "I suppose our search continues," he mused to Shizuka as they began to walk away.

"Do you mind if I ask you a question?" Shizuka said to him.

"Of course not," he replied. "What's troubling you?"

"What did you actually...do to him back there? I could still see you even when he stopped me, but you just went forward and then...something happened."

"Better not to think about it too hard," Sheila E interrupted. "GioGio's Stand is something else." With a grin, she added, "Our enemies say it's like the devil, but we say it's more like an angel."

"Nothing that dramatic," Giorno said with a wave of his hand. "It simply returns things to zero." That, of course, didn't really answer the question. Shizuka figured it was a good idea not to press, though. Something told her she was better off remaining ignorant about this aspect of her relative.

* * *

Shizuka's having some bad luck lately, constantly going up against Stand users that make her invisibility kind of useless. Hopefully it'll be different next time.

If you can't tell by now, much of my appreciation of Giorno is because he is so unrepentant in just how ruthless he is, being just moral enough despite probably being a supervillain in any other context (wonder if I'll ever explore that in the future). He's not a good person despite doing good things, and that really shows through in how he completely breaks a man as retribution for harming the people he cares about. GER is fucking scary.

Also loves making snakes, so here's to the return of brick snake. She did a good job as always.

Given I've already got two new Stands with more to come, I'm sort of regretting not putting Stand stats in the midway point of chapters now. Problem being I'd be about one short at this point in time, unless of course I had an entire name, backstory, and Stand ready for the random grunt who ate ass last chapter. If I did, none of you will ever see it now.

That's about all I've got for now. Thanks for reading. Share if you're enjoying. Always remember to treat your snakes well.


	8. Rejected Warriors

_Shizuka breaks from the group and makes some new friends._

* * *

Their target was now a man named Money. While it was something of a start, they weren't going to be making any real progress with just that. According to Giorno, one of his associates named Murolo was looking into things from back in Italy, though there was no guarantee he'd be able to find anything from half the world away. For her part, Shizuka called in Shimura once more, hoping he might be able to find something closer to home.

In the meantime, all they could really do was wait. Outside of a chance meeting instigated by fate itself, there wasn't much of a possibility they'd just stumble upon another member of Centipede that easily. It was lucky enough they were able to find their first, but that was almost solely because he was trying far too hard to appear dangerous and made enough noise to show up on some radars. They likely wouldn't have that luxury again going forward.

This proved to be troubling for two reasons. The first was obvious, in that their journey more or less ground to a halt instantly. The second, however, was a bit more unexpected. Apparently, when not in the mindset of working, both Giorno and Sheila E had shifted into full tourist mode, badgering Shizuka to show them around Morioh as they waited for a lead.

"Convenience stores are so different here," Sheila E said, arms filled with magazines, candy, and several packaged meals as she wandered the store looking for more interesting things to take.

"I moved to Italy when I was only four, so I never had the chance to experience this," Giorno explained before taking a bite out of a yakisoba bun he'd bought. He'd taken a seat on a display freezer in keeping with Italian customs, delicately crossing his ankles as he enjoyed his snack to the bewildered looks of other patrons. "It's interesting. Like you said, it's different from similar stores in other countries. I can't remember an American shop having this quality of food premade like this, though I admit I've only been once."

He turned to Shizuka off to the side, not registering the fact she was marinading in embarrassment and irritation. "Perhaps once this is done, we'll all go to New York to return you safely. We might even be able to go to Florida while we're there. I've never formally met Mr. Jotaro before, so I'd like to do that at some point. It feels like we've waited far too long for that."

"New York and Florida are half the country apart," Shizuka grumbled.

"No matter. We have more than enough time to make the trip. We could compare what's available at the convenience stores at each location, too."

"I like that idea," Sheila E said, dropping her entire haul onto the checkout counter. "Kind of hard to beat this place. They've got a copier right up at the front. That's wild."

"Shizuka, which do you think is better? You've lived in both America and Japan, so you have the most experience."

"It doesn't matter," she said, raising her voice slightly. "This is a waste of time and I'm leaving." She blinked from existence, heading for the door in secrecy. While it was probably an overreaction to be so dramatic, seeing the two completely shirk their duties in helping her track down Centipede had gotten to her. They hadn't given up by any stretch, but to the impatient Shizuka, that's what it felt like.

She wasn't followed as the door swung open, the two seemingly deciding she needed to blow off some steam alone. When the time came, they could always just call her.

In the end, she didn't get too far, being reminded that angrily stomping down the sidewalk while invisible was generally a bad idea if she wasn't going to look where she was going. Slamming headfirst into someone's stomach, she fell backwards before becoming tangible again. "What's the big idea here?" the man demanded, pointing angrily at her. "Where did you even come from? And anyway, look where you're going for once! Could have killed me strutting along like that!"

He was quickly silenced by a swift smack to the back of the head by his companion. "Ken, cool it," he told him. "You're screaming at a little girl."

"It builds character!" he said in his defense, tapping his friend's chest with the back of his hand. "Sensei screamed at me when I was a kid. Punched me, too. Now look how I turned out."

"You can't make all your decisions based on what he might do," he sighed. Turning to Shizuka, the man bent down and extended his hand. "Sorry about him. He's not too bright. Did you get hurt?"

"I'm fine," Shizuka replied stoically, getting to her feet on her own.

"That's good to know," he said, scratching the short beard on his chin. "You really were invisible, though, weren't you? Doesn't that mean you're a Stand user?"

"Oh, hey, good point!" the other said. "Guess I can't get too mad if you ran into me, then. Was just fate, after all."

Shizuka's head snapped in their direction, quickly taking a few steps back and preparing herself. As the two chatted to each other, she could only anticipate an attack was immanent. She wouldn't give them the advantage, though. "Achtung Baby!" she called, her Stand appearing and launching a flurry of blows towards them while shouting its signature cry.

Both were startled by her sudden yell, one pushing the other back and saying, "Boy II Man!" in response. His own Stand came out to defend him, matching Shizuka blow for blow despite having two less arms. Given that neither was really a power type, they were fairly even in terms of ability. Even so, he had the advantage. "How about we see who's faster, then?" he said. "Huh? You accept?"

"What?" Shizuka replied, their Stands still clashing.

"A test of speed! See who has the more powerful Stand!"

"I don't care, sure." This would prove to be Shizuka's undoing, as the instant she said that the enemy ducked around one of her attacks, throwing a punch between two of Achtung Baby's arms and catching her in the chest.

Though the damage was minimal, her opponent was no less pleased with himself. "That was one!" he declared. His Stand's full power activated after that, its eyes flashing for a moment before it lurched forward, grabbing Achtung Baby and ripping off its right side.

"How's that feel?" he asked, the stolen piece of Shizuka's Stand materializing into energy as it was sucked into a hole on the man's cheek. "Ready to give up, or do you think you can do a best of five in your condition?"

Shizuka dropped to her knees, all the strength draining out of her right side. She felt nauseous and light headed at the same time, her Stand sinking back inside her as she grit her teeth. "You probably shouldn't be celebrating," she told him. "Just look at your hands."

With a snort, he did just that, screaming in terror after noticing his hands were entirely missing. "What happened? Where are my hands? What did you do to me?"

"Achtung Baby can make things disappear," she explained. "If I hit something, it sends it away somewhere. Even I'm not entirely sure where it ends up, but I can get it back if I want. Undo whatever it is you just did and I'll give you your hands back." This was a total lie, of course, but the man was in too much of a panic to be able to tell his hands still existed despite not being able to see them.

"Ken, calm down!" the other man said. "You stole a third of that Stand, right? Use it to return them on your own."

Her plan backfired spectacularly at that moment, the one called Ken calming down immediately. "Oh, you're right. Thanks for reminding me, Hayato." As his hands reappeared, he began to boast. "Nice try, but it didn't work. It takes a lot more than simple tricks like that to outwit the disciple of Rohan-sensei himself."

Shizuka blinked. "You're not Rohan's disciple," she said, dumbfounded at the arrogance this man was displaying. "He's never even mentioned someone like you."

Ken's willpower shattered at this, Shizuka's spirit returning immediately as he slumped to the ground. "Sensei doesn't even talk about me?" he bemoaned, almost about to cry.

"You know him, too?" Hayato asked. "Wait, who are you?"

After a brief pause to consider her options, she replied, "Shizuka. Joestar."

This got their attention. "A Joestar?" Hayato exclaimed. "You mean like Josuke's father?"

"You know my brother?" she asked, all three immediately realizing who the others were, at least in a general sense.

"You're that invisible baby!" Ken yelled, pointing towards her in astonishment. "Wait, then that means..." He fell to the ground again in dismay. "You really would know if Sensei ever talks about me, wouldn't you?"

Giving Ken a pat on the shoulder, Hayato turned his attention to Shizuka. "I guess this was all a big misunderstanding. I think so, at least. I'm not a Stand user like either of you, so I only caught the gist of whatever was going on."

"Sorry, I guess," Shizuka apologized. "I though you might be the enemy since you were talking about Stands."

"I would hope we're not enemies," Hayato said with a chuckle. "I'd hate to think Josuke's little sister hated me." It was clear he held her brother in high esteem. "Who are your enemies, anyway? Are you in danger right now?"

"I'd rather not get you involved," Shizuka said shortly. Things were dangerous enough without having civilians butting in. Shimura was at least safe in his own home for the foreseeable future, but talking about her mission with these two would probably lead to them wanting to tag along.

As she feared, this was exactly what was happening. "Hey, we just want to help," Hayato told her, adjusting a pair of thin, rectangular glasses on his nose. "We're not just ordinary people, you know. I fought with your brother to defeat Kira Yoshikage all those years ago."

"And I almost defeated Rohan-sensei," Ken said, recovering from his funk. "He even made me his disciple because he respected my grit."

"Hasn't he been rejecting you for a solid ten years?" Hayato asked. "Every time you ask, he tells you he doesn't need an assistant."

With a haughty laugh, Ken expanded on his denial. "He only says that to help inspire me to achieve even greater success. If I was just invited into his house whenever he was working to watch, I'd never get any practice with my Stand. And if all he did was fight me with Heaven's Door, I'd never get the chance to watch him drawing. This way, it's the best of both."

"In other words, you sneak into his house and he beats you up for it." Ken was too busy laughing at the success of his supposed training to listen. "Well, I guess you did win that award for that manga competition. Second place, at least. It must be doing something."

Shizuka tried to slip away as they fell into conversation by themselves, but Hayato caught her at the last moment. "Oh, wait. Sorry for ignoring you. What I was meaning to say is we're both willing to help if you're in trouble. You can count on us, so at least tell us what's going on."

"He's right," Ken said with a nod. "Besides, if there's some bad guys around, we should probably know that just to be safe. For ourselves, I mean."

That was actually a pretty compelling point, but she still resisted. "I already have-" She stopped in her tracks, thinking on the offer seriously. It was true that she did have Giorno and Sheila E, but for all she knew, they were screwing around in a convenience store instead of helping her hunt down the group that kidnapped her as a child. These two, on the other hand, had apparently worked with people close to her in the past, one of them being able to best her in a Stand rush at the minimum.

"I mean, it's not an easy job," she said. "I don't want to involve anyone who can't handle it. You get that, right? That it's dangerous?"

"You know about Kira, right?" Hayato asked with a smile. "I doubt anything's scarier than him, so we'll be just fine."

Though not entirely convinced, Shizuka was willing to discuss with these two. They found their way to a cafe to talk as she gave them the gist of what was going on, leaving out the bit about her gangster guardians and her current beef with them.

"That's really messed up," Ken said, tilting his head to the side to drink from his cup. "Sensei confirmed it, though, so it's got to be true."

Hayato seemed even more upset by this. "I thought there couldn't be another evil like that in this town. We definitely have to help now. I won't be able to rest until I know Morioh is safe again."

"I'm still not comfortable getting strangers involved," Shizuka told them. "Besides, you're not even a Stand user, right? You'd be in a lot more danger than anyone else."

"Don't worry about me," Hayato said confidently. "I've been studying Stand users for a while. I've got my own way of dealing with them."

"He's done plenty of experiments with me, too," Ken added. "Pretty sure he knows more about Stands than even I do."

"Don't say 'experiments' like that," he told him. "That makes it sound like we've been up to something dirty."

"Maybe you've just got a dirty mind," he said accusingly, poking a finger into the green vest Hayato was wearing. "But either way, we've got this, kid. Just point us in the right direction and we'll take down anyone we come up against."

"I guess...you aren't completely helpless and all. But still..."

Hayato held out his hand to her. "Trust in us, Shizuka Joestar. We've been helping to keep this town safe for a while now, so we're not just going to let these Centipede freaks do whatever they want. At least this way, we'll have each others backs."

Though hesitant, this managed to win Shizuka over. She shook his hand, Ken laying his over top both of theirs to feel included in the gesture. Having allies seemed to be important in this fight given everything she'd come up against so far, so it certainly wouldn't hurt to have these two by her side. Their partnership forged, they set out to patrol Morioh with spirits high.

While they were "doing something" in the conventional sense, the reality quickly turned out to be little more productive than dicking around in a convenience store. The three searched the streets for anyone who looked suspicious, banking on either the natural pull Stand users felt towards one another to guide them or sheer luck to have a meeting. Neither was leading them to anyone of interest.

"Hey, Centipede assholes!" Ken shouted into the sky after several hours of fruitless looking. "Get out here and fight us! We don't want you in our town!" He fell backwards onto the sidewalk, sighing at his fruitless attempt at stirring up enemies that weren't even around.

"It's no use," Hayato admitted. "We don't have any idea where to look. None of your friends have said anything, Shizuka?"

"Nothing," she said, no one having gotten back to her with information. It almost felt like it was time to return one of the several calls from Giorno and admit defeat, crawling back to him and Sheila E and taking them to go look at some rocks jutting out of the ocean, or whatever nonsense caught their attention.

Their resolve almost appeared to be paying off, however, as a strange figure approached. "Hey, who's that?" Ken asked, jumping to his feet. "Never seen that guy around town before." By the looks of things, he wasn't Japanese, sporting a blond buzz cut and wearing a large overcoat.

"Yeah, neither have I," Hayato agreed, noting how he seemed to walk with purpose. Almost as if he intended to confront them. With a look between themselves and then to Shizuka, he called out to the man. "Hey, who are?"

"Don't take another step forward!" Ken demanded. For whatever reason, the man didn't comply, simply grinning as he was spoken to. "You've got one more chance!" he said, summoning his Stand behind him.

"Looks like I finally found you," he spoke from the middle of the road, gruff American accent permeating his Japanese. "I can finally get some revenge."

Shizuka followed suit, Achtung Baby appearing behind her. "He's got to be Centipede. We just sent one of his friends to jail, so he probably wants to get revenge on me for it."

"Then that's all I needed to hear," Ken said, clenching his fist. "Hey, asswipe! Instead of picking on a little girl, why not try a guy like me? I'll even take it easy on you and just beat you in a game instead of bashing your head open with my Stand. Rock Paper Scissors sound good?"

"I don't have time for games, kid," he replied. "But I don't mind if you want to get in my way. I could use a warm up after all this time." He began to laugh, his Stand seeming to manifest behind him as a green skeletal figure with a pair of pool balls in place of eyes. "You're going to regret it, though. Show them what happens to people who disrespect me, Garbage!"

The Stand called Garbage began to wail. Nearby, an unassuming trashcan began to shake. Out of its mouth began to poor all manner of discarded things from old paper, cigarette butts, aluminum cans, and plenty of other unmentionables, all of it flying straight for the group.

It was a simple matter for Boy II Man to destroy the trash flying towards them, Shizuka taking a breath and charging in at high speed to try and end the fight quickly. "Don't get close to him!" Hayato shouted suddenly. "In his hand! His right hand! He's holding a knife!"

The man grit his teeth, his Stand tossing a small push knife towards Shizuka who was able to deflect it with ease. While one wouldn't normally think of not being able to see Stands as an advantage, this did mean that anything they carried would appear to be floating to the average observer. In this case, it meant sneak attacks like that would be of no use.

"Vi! Vi! Vi! Vi! Vi!" The man was struck several times in the body, being sent flying back and bending a lamppost across the street as he was flung into it. His body crackled with the transferred Hamon, his movements growing sluggish and pained.

Despite this, though, he was far from ready to give up. "You don't even realize what you've done," he taunted them. "You can't just break down garbage. All you're doing is making even more of it." Just as he said this, his Stand wailed once more, the broken bits of trash Ken had previously beaten apart beginning to move around.

The tattered shards of a can encircled Hayato's neck, digging into his skin until blood began to spray. The wounds weren't deep considering the material could only be so sharp, but it certainly wasn't pleasant.

In truth, this was merely a distraction. Ken naturally turned to help his friend, leaving him wide open from behind. For his troubles, he took the "discarded" knife from earlier into his side, the blade biting deep into his flesh before various bits of hard plastic, wood, and metal began to assault the both of them.

"That takes care of those two," he said, beginning to shrug off the Hamon as he approached as confused and shocked Shizuka. "That just leaves you." First hearing about the ability to manipulate garbage at will, one wouldn't be wrong to write it off as something fairly silly. When used right, though, it was quite clear just how dangerous that ability could be, even if an area relatively devoid of trash like this.

"Shizuka, use this!" Ken yelled, briefly breaking through the tornado of trash and ripping the knife out of his body. Boy II Man hurled it forward toward her.

"You idiot, you've just thrown it away now!" Whatever course the knife may have been taking before, it was now aimed squarely at Shizuka's back, hurtling forward at double its previous speed.

This, however, was exactly what the two were hoping for. While they hadn't been working together for long, their previous encounter and the time they'd spent together had given them an idea for how the other operated. In this instance, it meant that the enemy had sent the knife straight for his own gut.

Shizuka turned invisible at the last moment, easily moving out of the way. With no target to hit and confusion splintering his focus, the man managed to stab himself before an invisible fist socked him in the jaw. Doubled over and making a sound halfway between a cry and a groan, his Stand disappeared.

Danger averted, the three moved in on the assailant. Ken ripped the sleeve off his blue shirt and handed it to Hayato to hold around his neck until they could find some bandages, ignoring his own cuts and bruises. "Not feeling so tough with a knife in your belly, are you?"

"Tell us about Centipede," Shizuka demanded, using Achtung Baby to step on the knife in an almost uncharacteristic show of force. Giorno may have been rubbing off on her in a less than savory way.

"What are you even talking about?" he whimpered. "I don't know any centipedes. I just wanted revenge."

"For putting away Towa T, right."

"Who? No. Your brother, he's Higashikata Josuke, right? He got me put away for ten years for stealing. When I got out, I wanted my revenge. Then a buddy of mine named Kobayashi said his little sister was in town, so I knew it was the time to do it. I was going to ruin his life for ruining mine!"

The trio looked between each other, not entirely sure how to feel about this situation. On the one hand, this man was certainly not who they were looking for. On the other, they did just stop a dangerous criminal from roaming the streets.

"That's quite the coincidence," Giorno said as he approached from down the street. "Regardless, it seems like you've done good work today, Shizuka."

"When did you get here?" Shizuka asked him, shocked that he managed to find her on the other side of town all by himself. Well, not _all_ by himself.

"We followed you," Sheila E said from behind. "I know your scent. You can't hide from us even if you're invisible."

"Now who are these people?" Ken shouted, stomping up to Giorno defiantly.

"Shizuka's guardians," he said. "Thank you for watching over her today." Placing a hand on Ken's shoulders, his injuries disappeared in an instant. He did the same for Hayato a moment later.

After fixing the hole in his stomach, the group handed the man over to a local police officer. His spirit broken and humiliation evident, he went without a fuss. This gave them a chance to chat about the events of the day once they returned to the previous cafe, Shizuka finally coming clean about how she felt. "It seemed like you just gave up," she said. "Like, since there wasn't anything we could do, you just decided to slack off."

"I'm sorry we gave you that impression," Giorno told her. "We were only trying to occupy our time while we waited. The truth was there wasn't much we could do at the time. If I'm honest, I also wanted to get to know you better." Making the decision to open up a bit, he admitted, "My relationship with my immediate relatives is somewhat complicated. It wasn't simply altruism that motivated me coming here. I wanted the opportunity to meet a member of the Joestar family – my family."

This made Shizuka feel like a bit of an ass for just running off. "I guess you were kind of right, too. We didn't really accomplish much. That guy just kind of ran into us on his own, after all."

"If nothing else, you at least handled yourself well." He nodded to Ken and Hayato, acknowledging their efforts, as well. "I hope we can continue working together."

"Yeah, we can," Shizuka replied. "Sorry for making you look for me."

"Didn't have to look hard considering you still wear that awful perfume," Sheila E said, feet on the table as she drank from a coffee cup. "Can you guys believe that? Someone who's Stand makes her invisible still wants to smell like a field of flowers. Do you think the enemy is going to believe a bouquet of roses is coming to get him?"

"I didn't want to say anything," Hayato agreed, stifling a laugh. "It is kind of strong."

"Really strong," Ken said. "I almost stopped when we first met since I could smell you coming and it got me confused."

As Shizuka threatened to make their drinks explode on them, Giorno retrieved his phone from his pocket. "By the way, one of my associates came through for us. We might have an idea as to where our next target is." They all quickly straitened up, listening as he explained. "According to some police files, there's a pachinko parlor in S City that's believed to be linked to Centipede. Likely money laundering, possible illegal gambling. The problem being that there wasn't enough evidence to raid it along with the rest of their hideouts during the last bust. It's also of note that the man who operates it supposedly goes by the name Money, just as we were told."

"Sounds like our guy, right?" Sheila E said.

"Then we know where we're headed," Shizuka agreed.

"Think we can come, too?" Ken asked quickly, still having a taste for adventure even after the tussle he'd just survived.

"I'd advise against it," Giorno told him. "The more people we have with us, the more attention we'd draw. For this operation, it would be best if only the three of us went." This was his way of letting them down gently.

Hayato nodded. "He's got a point. Either way, we're here if you guys need some backup. Say the word and we'll be there."

"We'll be counting on you to report anything that you see while we're gone, as well," Giorno said.

"Not if we take out all the Centipede guys before you get back," Ken said smugly.

"Don't get a big head, kid," Sheila E told him. "These guys are a little tougher than that loser you took out. They'll rip your dicks off and feed them to you without a second thought."

"They can probably handle it," Shizuka said. "They fought with my brother and Rohan, after all."

"Then we should have no problem leaving it in their hands," Giorno concluded. "We'll leave tonight if there's nothing else for us to do. To S City."

* * *

The triumphant(?) return of Ken and Hayato. I knew I wanted to have them show up as some point during this, especially when I went back to check and confirmed they are about the same age during Part IV. I doubt they went to the same elementary school, but they were definitely friends in high school and have been attending the same local university as adults. Hayato's studying anthropology to try and learn more about Stands and Ken's aspiring to become a mangaka like his hero. Boy II Man has also evolved to be able to bargain through any contest, not just the one game. Most importantly, Hayato has a bushy ponytail.

If you want to learn not much more about the guy they fought in this chapter, I wrote a whole story about it called Josuke Really Steals? that you can read right now. It raises a lot of questions about who really has no dignity.

I've always been really interested in Japanese convenience stores. All I've got near me are some Speedways and a UDF. I can't buy games from Steam in either of those. Their prepared food usually kind of sucks, too. The fact that the ones in Japan are kind of this weird mix between gas station, grocery, and pseudo-cafe has always been kind of wild to me.

Next one is going to be pretty fun. Look forward to some Kaiji-esque misadventures with the gang at the pachinko parlor. Thanks for reading. Share if you're enjoying. Always remember to let go of grudges you held against highschoolers for over a decade since that's kind of pathetic.


	9. Underground Casino

_Shizuka's group arrives at the pachinko parlor looking for the man called Money._

* * *

In one swift move, the group made their entrance into the skeevy pachinko parlor, all three striking their best poses for the occasion. If they were to be entirely honest, they were a bit disappointed that such a place wasn't quite living up to their standards, the trio undoubtedly being the most well dressed individuals in the building even without the outfits they'd procured just for this mission.

Regardless, they headed forward, advancing on an unmanned, flashing pachinko machine amid the sea of tired salarymen, jobless gambling addicts, and all manner of tourists, cigarette smoke swirling overhead. Giorno took a seat on the stool, flourishing the plush blue cape he'd added to his wardrobe behind him. Flanking him on either side were Shizuka and Sheila E, the former in a crisp black suit and pink tie with the latter in a forest green ensemble with a black fur trim around the collar.

As they discussed beforehand, the objective now was to show off their wealth. If this place really was a front for an illegal gambling den, suitably rich patrons might have a chance of being invited into a basement or backroom where the real action took place. When that happened, they'd most likely find their target.

It was a simple matter to ensure they won quite frequently on the machine. Giorno could use Gold Experience to reach through the glass, touching ball after ball and giving it life to become some small creature instinctively finding its way into the right holes so as to escape the loud sounds and flashing lights within the parlor. From there, his luck did the rest, simple probability dictating that the massive number of balls finding their way into the holes would ensure him ample payout to continue playing in perpetuity.

Though it took them nearly an hour to accomplish it, their plan seemed to be paying off. The absurd good fortunes of the flamboyant gambler had drawn a crowd, several whooping and cheering as ball after ball was shot through the machine, identical steel pellets being ejected back out to the point the trough was nearly overflowing.

A sweaty man in an ill-fitting gray suit approached the group, rubbing his hands together with a smile. "You seem to have quite the fortunate," he said, Giorno paying him no mind as Shizuka and Sheila E shot him intimidating looks. Stuttering, the man got to the point, "It seems like you've more than mastered this machine, right? I'm not supposed to tell just anyone, but there's a certain prize you might be interested in with so many balls. If you'd like something more challenging, you might want to exchange for it."

Rather than fire more balls, Giorno paused. "You seem interested," the man said with a satisfied nod. "Just exchange your balls for the handheld console." Without another word, he handed Shizuka a plastic container and walked off.

Their plan working smoothly so far, they shoveled their winnings into the bucket and moved to the prize counter. As expected, a number of non-monetary winnings were displayed on the walls and behind glass, some valuable in their own right and others fairly cheap and worthless.

"The handheld console, please," Giorno said, placing the container on the counter with a thunk.

The woman's eyes narrowed slightly, pausing for a moment before taking the container and emptying the contents into a ball counter. The number more than exceeded the price for the prize, the console itself hidden beneath the counter and not on display. The only way he'd have known it was there and to request it would be if someone had told him, the woman concluded.

"Please enjoy your prize," the woman said, bowing as she handed the boxed game console to him. It was nothing out of the ordinary, being the same kind of system you could buy in any electronics or department store. If one were to open the box, it would no doubt work just as intended by the manufacturer. "If you exit the building and turn right, you'll find our exchange window down the alleyway."

"I see. Thank you." Exiting the parlor, they followed her directions, advancing down a dark alley until they came to a small window in the side of a building. Attempting to peak down the small opening was met with little success, shadows obscuring whoever or whatever might be across from them.

Placing the box inside and sliding it towards whatever person might be there to receive it, they waited for what might happen next. Ordinarily, a stack of money would be sent back out, though this obviously wasn't the aim here.

A clicking noise behind them caused the group to do an about face, watching as the adjacent brick wall began to open. A section of the wall pulled inward like a door, a gruff man manning it like an attendant leading into a long hallway. "This way," he commanded.

Once all three had entered, the man closed the door behind them, walking them towards a regal wooden door at the end. "Check," he said, producing a metal detector from his pocket and doing a pass over them. While both Sheila E and Giorno had items that would most certainly not pass his inspection, they were more than capable of evading someone of his caliber. They were passed without a fuss.

In stark contrast to the drab stone walls of the path leading here, the space they arrived in was the very picture of excess. A casino that could easily rival the likes of even the flashiest of Las Vegas, all manner of games from slot machines to roulette to card tables lined the floor. Despite its elicit nature, the man in charge clearly felt that branding was important to his establishment, everything decked out in a shimmering gold and blood red colors, including the casino staff and live jazz band working there.

The door shut behind the three, leaving them alone to carry out the next step of their plan. "We'll meet here again in twenty minutes," Giorno said, descending down a staircase to the lower floor to see what he could find in the thick of it. This left Shizuka and Sheila E to work the upper areas. Between the invisibility and the insider knowledge on how gambling establishments tended to be laid out, it only made sense that they'd act as something more akin to a stealth unit.

Ensuring they were out of sight, the two held hands to more easily allow Shizuka's Stand to work. Now hidden from sight, they easily navigated around anyone in their way standing around or patronizing one of the several bars on the upper area.

"Best bet would be there," Sheila E said, directing Shizuka to an unassuming door off to the side.

"Not the big ones?" she asked, more concerned with the lavish pair of twin doors. From her perspective, they seemed much more likely to lead to something valuable.

"I like the direct approach, but I doubt that's what we want." Opening the door, they entered into a much drabber area of the building, everything appearing somewhat clinical and lifeless like the back rooms of these establishments so often do. "Got to scope out the area. Take care of cameras since it wouldn't be good to let people know we were here. Maybe secure some evidence of what he's doing if we're involving the cops."

"That makes sense," Shizuka agreed, the two keeping their voices low in case someone might pass by or overhear from behind a door. "I can't believe this is all right under the city. I've been here before."

"Lots of stuff isn't like it seems," she told her. "Your favorite restaurant might serve you food that's been dropped on the floor, your next door neighbor could be a killer, your bank could be trying to rip you off at every turn. You've always got to second guess things, especially in my line of work."

Taking a few moments to think over what was said, Shizuka replied, "That sounds kind of exhausting. Being suspicious of everything like that. Isn't there anything you trust?"

"I put my trust in GioGio," she said immediately. "That's all I need."

"What if he turns out to be not what he seems?" she asked, unsure of why she suddenly felt like having a conversation of this nature.

"Not happening," she said. "He's the greatest person there is."

"What if he wasn't, though?"

"Then I'd get rid of him," she stated bluntly. "I don't make mistakes. If I somehow did, I'd take care of it myself."

"You think you could fight his Stand, though?"

"No, but I'm also the only one who knows his weakness." She hesitated for a moment. "I think so, at least. Maybe the gunman has figured it out by now, but he's not that smart."

"What kind of-"

"I'm not telling you," Sheila E said quickly, cutting her off. "Private information." Taking a small bit of pleasure at sensing the disappointment Shizuka was feeling, she changed the topic of conversation back to business. "If I know my casinos, we should be pretty close to the security room. They usually keep it somewhere in the back so no one can just wander in."

Checking a few doors, they found the room in question without much trouble. It was manned by three security guards, too busy examining screens to notice the entrance cracking open. The two reappeared out of sight, silently planning out their course of attack and executing it in a single second. Shizuka used her Hamon to knock the lone guard unconscious while Sheila E snacked the remaining two situated next to each other with Voodoo Child's tail, smashing their faces into two monitors in the process.

"How do we delete the footage they got us already?" Shizuka asked, shoving her guard to the ground and trying to find something on the computer he was manning.

"Simple," Sheila E said, smashing a server right after. Just as she said, the camera feeds on every screen froze with a message stating there was an error.

"Direct approach," Shizuka identified, wondering to herself whether or not they'd inadvertently destroyed evidence that could be used in putting together a case against their enemies.

"You're learning," she complimented. "Let's go. Probably more than just three guys handling security around here. Let's take care of as many as we can before we get the real target." That was the plan, at least, but the second the two stepped outside was when things changed.

Neither was sure what was happening, but it was clear something was off. The air was thick with tension despite the hall itself being empty, only the mechanical whir of computers in the security room making noise.

"I know you're here," a voice said from somewhere in the area, words hissed from the speaker's mouth. "I've always had a talent about knowing when someone's been somewhere they're not supposed to. Come out and I might let you go."

If nothing else, the speaker confirmed that it was currently unable to locate them, so the invisibility was working. Their best bet would be to try to sneak away before that changed. This, however, proved to be the wrong move, a single step being all it took for the enemy to reveal itself.

More accurately, it was the enemy's Stand. Taking the form of a massive yellow bulldog creature covered in eyes, maw dripping with green fluid, it lunged toward where the two were. Grabbing Shizuka in her arms, Sheila E jumped out of the way and narrowly escaped its jaws. As soon as she landed, though, the Stand immediately changed course, giving a disturbingly human-like howl as it charged them.

Its jaws met some form of resistance in thin air, Shizuka's invisibility dropping from the strain of holding it away even with Achtung Baby's four arms. "So that's what was happening," the Stand spoke despite having its mouth held open. "I could only hear a single set of footsteps there, but it turns out there's two of you."

Shizuka winced as one of the Stand's teeth managed to pierce her own, both their hands beginning to bleed. Sheila E took this as her chance to attack, Voodoo Child launching into a flurry of punches on the enemy and sending it back. Amazingly, it seemed to take no damage despite smashing into the wall hard enough to damage the door frame, the Stand's body seeming to ripple and deflect the impact. What's worse, Shizuka suddenly fell to her knees in pain, clutching her left arm as the wound on her hand started to fizzle and steam.

"That was a nice hit," the enemy said, the Stand getting to its feet as its eyes fixed on its targets. "I guess you earned an explanation. My Stand is called Summer Cannibal. It gives me the power to steal the ability of anyone I let it eat. I'll tell you up front, punches don't work against me ever since I gained the ability to deflect kinetic energy."

Preparing to charge again, it continued. "That's not all, though. That bite you just took is going to get infected. I happened to eat a pretty dangerous guy a couple years ago with the power to inject people with some kind of serum that turns their body into jelly. That stuff is going spread through you and make you even easier to gobble up."

Voodoo Child leaped out in front of Shizuka, doing its best to beat back Summer Cannibal with a barrage of punches. They might not do damage, but they could at least buy time for an escape. As Sheila E tried to collect her off the ground, she could already see the poison at work, the girl's fingers drooping over and bending into unnatural shapes as the bones and muscles became gelatinous.

"Hey, I have a question," Shizuka said through obvious pain. "Giorno...his Stand...it can heal anything, right?"

"As long as we make it out of here alive," she said.

With a sigh, Shizuka broke into a cold sweat. "Then I guess I feel a little better about doing this." Without warning, Achtung Baby appeared and delivered a swift chop to her own wrist, severing her hand before the damage could spread to any other part of her body.

Both Sheila E and the enemy were caught off guard by this, the former recovering much quicker and taking the chance to land several hits, enough to send it flying back once again. Leading Shizuka as she tried desperately not to cry out in pain while gripping at the stump on her arm, the two hid themselves in a nearby room and returned to being invisible.

They barely had time to use Shizuka's tie as a makeshift tourniquet before Summer Cannibal bashed through the door. "I saw you come in here," it said menacingly. "Pretty ballsy to chop off your own hand, though. Bet that hurts a lot. Why not come out and let me finish you off already?"

Several seconds passed, neither party making a move. Any sound would alert the Stand's incredible hearing and send it barreling towards the two, but staying still meant they couldn't be found. On the surface, it appeared they were at an impasse, though considering things any deeper revealed the women were at a distinct disadvantage.

Though the bleeding was staunched for the time being, Shizuka had taken a serious injury and could potentially go into shock or lose consciousness at any moment. When that happened, her Stand's power would deactivate and reveal them. Adrenaline could only do so much for her, especially when the two of them were forced to be so still.

"This is horrible." At the sound of those words, the Stand turned tail and stormed out of the room, going to investigate the source of the noise. To its confusion, it found what looked like the button off a coat, a tiny pair of lips formed on the front. "How am I going to explain it to her? 'Sorry, I lost my job, so I'm too poor to afford a nice suit!' What's she going to think of me then?" These were the words of a total stranger who had passed by the Sheila E's coat some time ago, her ability causing them to speak out as a distraction.

By the time Summer Cannibal realized the mistake, the two were already on the way out, having exited through another door in the staff room they'd been hidden inside and hobbling their way back to where they'd entered the staff area. The ploy wouldn't last long, though, evidenced by the sound of the Stand frantically bashing into walls as it made a mad dash to find them.

"Pretty sure we can't fight this guy alone," Sheila E said, whispering but trying to engage Shizuka to keep her from losing consciousness.

"We won't be able to get away," Shizuka said, surprising Sheila E at how lucid she sounded. "It's going to catch us."

"Give me some credit," she replied. "I'll get us out of here."

"I mean..." They briefly became visible as Shizuka wavered. "I mean we need to trap it. At least long enough to get to the exit."

"How do you think we do that?" she asked, doubtful of any trap's success against something so strong and sturdy. In response, the two became visible, Shizuka falling to one knee and catching her breath. Sheila E tried to help her up but was shook off, being directed to hide behind a corner and wait for the right moment.

Squeezing her arm, Shizuka yelped in pain, shaking it around to splatter blood across the floor. As expected, these sounds drew the attention of Summer Cannibal almost immediately, the Stand barreling towards her within seconds. "The other one left you behind?" it mused. "That's fine by me. I've always wondered what I could get away with if I was invisible."

Seconds before it had the chance to close the gap, Sheila E knew it was the moment to strike. Voodoo Child appeared, punching the ground rapidly with a chorus of, "Eri Eri Eri Eri Eri!" All across the floor, mouths big and small opened up, biting down on different parts of Summer Cannibal's body and holding it in place. How long these would hold wasn't clear, but things seemed under control for now.

"Can't believe that actually worked," Sheila E said, helping a very pleased Shizuka to her feet. "Now we need to get GioGio and find the user." Just as she said this, the enemy wriggled one of its legs free from a mouth. Though the mouth opened back up to bite down once again, the hold was clearly less secure this time. "We don't have much time."

"That's right," Shizuka agreed. "I think it's time, then."

"Time for what?" she asked, quirking a brow.

"It's a move I've been saving for a while now. It's one my dad taught me, actually. He said it's something to only use when I'm in a really bad place and nothing else is working."

Intrigued by this description, Sheila E pressed her for more information. "Yeah? And what's that? Is it going to win us this fight?"

"If we're lucky, maybe. The secret technique of my family...the Joestar's killer move..." Without another word, she invoked the strength of her ancestors as she went about using her family's most powerful skill. Sprinting away from Summer Cannibal and down the hall, she yelled, "Let's run already!"

"We were already doing that, asshole!" Sheila E yelled, trying to catch up to her and gain as much ground on the enemy as possible. Range weakened her ability and eventually caused the lips to disappear on their own, so the further they got from Summer Cannibal meant the more likely it was to break free. Their only chance was to get out into main area where the noise could hide them, though they both had the feeling there was more to this enemy than just what they knew so far.

* * *

Shizuka once again proves herself as a Joestar by using the secret technique passed down the family line for generations. Don't tell anyone, but she first learned about it after coming home upset because she kept being "it" in tag and Joseph had to help boost her confidence.

I feel like DIO would really appreciate Giorno's cape. If nothing else, they share the same fashion sense. Wish I knew how to draw so I could get all of them looking great here.

Kaiji's probably sitting there kicking himself watching Giorno clean up at pachinko after spending a whole season about to kill himself over his own. Who knew cheating was that easy?

What do you think the employee who finds a severed, jiggly hand is going to do? Do you report that shit to HR, or what? Can't exactly call the police down there.

That's all I've got for now. Thanks for reading. Share if you're enjoying. Always remember to erase the recordings for a better score.


	10. Summer Cannibal

_Shizuka struggles to contend with Summer Cannibal and obtain answers from Money._

* * *

Shizuka and Sheila E tumbled through the door out of the back area, black-suited guards stationed in the upper level of the casino immediately snapping to attention. Confused, they went to investigate why a door had seemingly flung open forcefully on its own given there was no one they could see nearby.

As the two Stand users sat stock-still against the railing overlooking the lower floor, they watched in frustration as the guards called in the disturbance, their boss seemingly explaining that there were intruders who likely escaped somewhere in the building. This forced them out of hiding, Voodoo Child appearing to whip both of them with its tail and knock them unconscious before they could radio anyone else.

Unfortunately, this wasn't necessary, at least one person on the bottom floor spotting two members of the security team being violently smashed against the walls and letting out a yelp in surprise. All it took was one look for everything to begin to go awry, the other guards mobilizing to investigate the upper area while others positioned themselves between the crowd and the stairs, effectively blocking anyone from going up or down.

"This is going to shit real quick," Sheila E cursed, invisibility still holding despite Shizuka's rapidly deteriorating condition. Like most people, she wasn't taking too well to having a hand chopped off, their only saving grace being that her blood remained invisible for the time being and none of it could be trailed back to the two in hiding.

Knowing they needed a distraction for Shizuka to stumble her way to healing, Sheila E made the decision to act as such. "Let me out of here," she said as the guards approached, obviously meaning invisibility. "Get to GioGio."

Though Shizuka wanted to argue, her head was beginning to get a bit fuzzy and she couldn't summon the thoughts to do so. Hesitating, she eventually did allow Sheila E to become tangible again, the woman darting out from where they were seated back into the staff area of the casino. The guards obviously saw her, chasing after her with guns drawn.

This left Shizuka alone, only about five men separating her from the crowd downstairs. Though that would be a fairly difficult challenge for a normal person to overcome, they likely hadn't accounted for an invisible child being able to slip between the gaps in their formation. From there, she could easily make it down to Giorno.

And yet, she didn't. Instead, Shizuka made for the other door leading towards what they'd assumed was the boss' office. She reasoned that this was the best time to attack, waiting longer meaning he might have a chance to escape or call in more security from outside. Even if she did reunite with Giorno, he couldn't do much from where he was unless he wanted to risk any number of people going down in a hail of gunfire. He'd be fine, but what if he couldn't reach one of the civilians in time to reverse what happened to them?

Though she didn't feel confident enough to take out the remaining security in her current state, Shizuka was adamant that she could at least defeat Money. His Stand was still occupied elsewhere, likely chasing after Sheila E and the guards if it had gotten free. That left him as just a normal man with, at best, a few guards around wherever he sat. It would be rough, but she could handle all of that.

Pushing through the pair of doors, Shizuka found herself in a red reception room just as extravagant as the casino downstairs. It was a far cry from the drab backrooms, at least, but out-of-season flowering plants and a small bowl of money sitting on a table like most would present fruit were the least of her concerns. Right now, she needed to take out the two men stationed on either side of another door at the back, this one likely to lead her to the target.

Holding her breath to steady herself, Achtung Baby charged forward, striking both of them with its remaining hands charged with Hamon on her exhale. They both fell to the ground in a heap, Shizuka herself panting as her strength continued to whittle away from the blood loss. She'd need to finish this quickly, if not for her sake than everyone else who might end up hurt if the boss wasn't dealt with.

Steeling herself, she approached the door, opening it slowly to examine her surroundings. From the looks of things, the skinny man with a regrettable mustache and garish purple and pink pinstripe suit hadn't even noticed her, busy fruitlessly pounding a few television screens behind his mahogany desk to try and return the security signal that had been taken out previously.

Just as soon as Shizuka was halfway through the door, however, did it slam shut on her. Invisible or not, someone had managed to crush her in between the door and the frame, that person being Summer Cannibal. How was that possible, though?

"Looks like we found you," Money said, standing up from his chair and walking around to the front of his desk. Evidently, he'd expected someone to get this far, only pretending to be occupied and unaware. "That's a little cruel, isn't it? Sending someone who only had one hand in here to fight me alone?"

Shizuka's invisibility began to waver, the pain draining away her stamina at an even quicker rate. "Summer Cannibal has a lot of neat abilities," he explained. "It was especially hard to get the one that allows it to move through solid objects. Turns out it only works on solid things, though, so a person stuck in water can't do much to stop these teeth." His Stand began to snarl, showing off its poisoned fangs.

"You know, I am kind of curious about who you are and why you decided to come charging in here to find me," he continued, leaning back against his desk and looking down at Shizuka. "At the end of the day, though, I guess it doesn't matter. The fact I'm about to kill you means there's nothing you could have actually done to me. I'll just gobble up your Stand and add another weapon to my arsenal."

As he began a smug, shrill laugh, the door Summer Cannibal was pressing into Shizuka suddenly vanished. "What?" he shouted, his Stand instinctively jumping back to defend him. He was in no danger from this, of course, as the door had simply been made invisible. He had no way of knowing this given he didn't yet have a full grasp on what Achtung Baby could do, expecting some kind of attack.

This was a fact Shizuka planned to use to her advantage. It was possibly her only advantage at this point given the sorry state she was in. Trying to keep the seemingly invincible enemy at bay, her Stand grabbed a large, probably very expensive vase from the corner and hurled it towards Money, Shizuka sucking in as much air as she could.

Predictably, Summer Cannibal jumped in the way, shrugging off the impact without even so much as flinching. Even so, it provided her a chance to duck out of the room and turn invisible again, holding her breath and clutching her damaged arm against her chest so as not to make any sound at all.

"Clever," he complimented, Summer Cannibal prowling across the entirety of the room like a soldier following a patrol route. "Still, it's only a matter of time before I find you. Either my Stand bumps into you or you try to run and it chases you down. How do you want to die, little girl?"

Thirty agonizing seconds passed in near-total silence, the only sounds being that of Summer Cannibal stomping across the floor. "I know you're still here," Money said with a chuckle. "If you'd tried to run, I'd have heard it." With the last bit of corner checked, it became obvious where she was hiding.

The moment the enemy stuck its head out of the door to begin searching in the lobby, Shizuka made her move. "Vi! Vi! Vi! Vi! Vi! Vi! Vi!" her Stand cried, using its remaining hands to unleash as many blows against Summer Cannibal as it could, Shizuka herself exhaling her entire lung capacity to pump as much Hamon into the punches as she could.

Predictably, this did absolutely nothing to the Stand, barely even slowing it down. Chomping down hard on one of Achtung Baby's arms, it shook the Stand around, smashing it and Shizuka into the ground and the wall beside it like a dog breaking in a new chew toy. As it did, its venom was taking effect, Shizuka feeling her remaining arm begin to weaken and crumple with excruciating agony.

Money himself walked out of the office just as Summer Cannibal tossed the two across the floor, sneering as the invisibility went away completely. "I know I said I was going to kill you, but I'm actually having a little fun seeing what you'll try next." He paused for a moment, spitting onto the carpet. "So, now that you've got no arms, what are you going to do?"

Shizuka lay there panting on the floor, her body bruised and broken as it slowly and painfully fell apart from the poison. In all honesty, what could she do? Even with more appendages than herself, Achtung Baby was operating at far below full power assuming she had the strength to summon it at all. She didn't have the clarity to call for help, not that either of her allies or even just a good Samaritan could reach her. She seemed to be out of options.

At least, before her eyes fell on the red liquid on the floor. That's what Money had just spat from his mouth a moment earlier. It couldn't be blood, could it? Summer Cannibal was supposed to deflect all attacks. Did one of them get through somehow? Did he simply have some kind of gum disease?

As the Stand approached, deliberately taking its time and snarling to intimidate her, Shizuka caught the faintest glimpse of some kind of injury up around one of its teeth. She had hurt it, but how? The only explanation could be that the ability that made it invincible only extended to the outside of its body. While that was a bit of long shot, it was the only shot she had at the moment.

Struggling to her feet with arms hanging limply at her sides, Shizuka wobbled forward a few steps to meet the enemy head on. "Oh, good," Money said with a smile. "It would have been disappointing if you couldn't at least try to kill me one last time."

This would be her only chance. Summer Cannibal let out a yell, charging forward and leaping into the air, teeth gnashing in anticipation of meeting flesh and bone. Seconds before making impact, Achtung Baby materialized in front of Shizuka, the latter barely able to stay on her feet.

In an absolutely bizarre turn of events, Shizuka's Stand jumped to meet Summer Cannibal in midair, diving into its mouth as far as it could. Teeth sinking into its back, Shizuka closed her eyes and screamed as loud as her lungs would allow to try and block out the pain, Achtung Baby letting its punches loose harder than ever before.

Even at the fraction of power it was left with and only half its total arms, Achtung Baby's strikes finally managed to do something. Pounding the inside of Summer Cannibal's throat and stomach, Money himself watched in horror as each blow hit true in rapid succession. Doubling over, it felt as if his insides were being tossed around in a clothes dryer, blood erupting from his mouth like a geyser.

"No more!" he screamed, barely able to form the words given so many integral parts of speech were nearly obliterated inside him. "No more!"

While Shizuka couldn't even hear him at this point given she was only acting on pure instinct, she did stop, Summer Cannibal smacking into the ceiling from the force of the last punch before falling to the ground in a twitching mess. This was followed shortly by a gurgling Money, barely clinging to life and having lost consciousness.

Her body moved forward out of sheer willpower, making her way back into the office to find the microphone she thought she'd seen earlier. Spotting it near the static TVs, she barely managed to make it there before falling to her knees. Using the last of her strength to press a button, the speakers around the building abruptly shrieked before she spoke the words, "He's down." She finally collapsed not even a second later.

"What the hell was that?" One of the guards along the stairs questioned.

"He's down? The boss?" These words were met with looks of concern from the others

"Can't be," the first replied. "His power's supposed to be invincible."

"That didn't sound like the boss, though," a third pointed out.

Tensions rising, a fourth finally declared, "Shit, someone's got to go look. You all go."

Giorno saw this as his chance. Three of the five men turned their backs to hurry up the stairs, allowing him to grasp a handful of poker chips between his fingers as he darted towards the way up. It didn't take long for one of the two remaining guards to spot him. "Hey!" one of them yelled, pulling a gun.

He wouldn't have time to use it, though, two chips sent flying towards both of them and almost instantaneously transforming into a mess of tree roots, growing across them and pinning them to the ground. The other three barely had the time to turn back to check the commotion before a hail of chips did the same to them, even creating a convenient path across their bodies Giorno could use to ascend to the office.

Shizuka opened her eyes shortly after, Giorno kneeling in front of her with his hand hovering above her arm. "You're safe," he told her, his voice quiet and reassuring. "Please try to open and close your hands."

Slowly and with a bit of trouble, she managed to do so, first on the right, then on the left. He nodded, helping her to sit up. "I was a bit worried given the extent of the damage, but you managed to stay alive long enough for me to repair you."

"Is he alive?" Shizuka asked, turning to try and see out the doorway. Despite everything, she didn't want to become a killer. Not even if it was against someone like him.

"I stabilized him," Giorno replied. "He's been subdued, as well. Good work on stopping him by yourself."

She sighed in relief, focus quickly shifting to another matter. "Sheila E might need help," she said, Giorno assisting her into the desk chair to rest.

"You're right. I'll go to her. Rest here and I'll return shortly." He left the room after that, grabbing a handful of pens off the desk as he did. Neither of them were particularly concerned with the possibility of any enemies trying to take the office, Shizuka more than capable of handling a group of normal people by herself.

That didn't change how exhausted she'd become with all of this, though. She never intended for things to spiral so terribly out of control just by looking for answers about how she came to be. She didn't regret this choice given how much good they were doing for the world, but it was still an impossible amount of pressure to put on a child. Was this the kind of thing the rest of her family dealt with all the time?

As promised, Giorno was quick to return with Sheila E, both of them seeming none the worse for wear. "We're back," he called into the office. "We shouldn't stay longer than needed, so let's begin questioning the enemy immediately."

With a grunt, Shizuka stood up from the chair, exiting the office into the lobby to stand by her comrades. Sheila E was already slapping Money around to try and wake him, eventually getting him to stir from the enclosure of roots pinning him against the wall.

"We need answers," she barked as soon as he'd opened his eyes, slapping him once more for good measure.

"Restraint," Giorno pretended to remind her, the two working in tandem like a well-oiled machine. "There's no need for us to harm you any further. We only want the names, locations, and Stand abilities of any other members of your organization."

"Top drawer on my desk, left side," he replied, stunning everyone with his compliance.

"So much for loyalty," Sheila E chided as Shizuka went to grab the documents.

"What's it matter if you grab up a bunch of no-name idiots?" he said. "Either way, you won't be able to handle the boss."

"Why is that?" Giorno questioned, only wanting more information to go into the fight as prepared as possible.

"She's stronger than anyone," he boasted, sounding exactly like the average thug in Passione during Diavolo's time. "Ruthless, too. Don't think any of you are going to make it out alive. I watched her toss a baby out a car window once."

This immediately caught their attention, Shizuka even dropping the papers on the floor as she came back. "A baby?" she asked, afraid to get her hopes up.

"Yeah. Some kid she didn't want. Apparently, she didn't expect how much work being a mom would be." Apparently, he found this funny, laughing as he said. "And when we were driving through some shithole, she just chucked it out the window when it wouldn't stop crying! It was hilarious! I didn't even think it was real at first!"

His laughing stopped the moment Achtung Baby appeared, grabbing his throat and shoving his head against the wall. "Where did this happen?" Shizuka asked calmly, fury and terror in equal measure bubbling just beneath the surface.

"How the hell should I know?" he strained to say. "It was like a decade ago. But...maybe...I think it was that Morioh place. Where some of us went after the bust. Along some road leading out of it." Despite the dire situation he was in, he still had the gall to grin. "And if she could do that to her own kid, imagine what she's going to do to you."

He stopped talking after that, Giorno himself knocking him out with a single punch. "There's nothing more we needed from him," he said, concerned with how Shizuka might have reacted had he not stopped things from escalating any further. "Grab the documents. We'll make copies and be gone. We know where to go now."

* * *

Just in time for the end of June, we've got another issue of everyone's fifth or sixth favorite surly little lesbian fighting crime.

It's kind of ironic how a Stand that focuses so much on consuming is also weak to attacks from the inside. For all its power, its main strength was Money's ability to build it up as invincible. As we know, though, there's no such thing as an invincible Stand.

More importantly, though, we've come to the big reveal. How's this going to change plans on the way back to Morioh? You'll have to keep reading to find out in what's likely to be the final chapter.

Not much to say this time since the biggest stuff happens next. Thanks for reading. Share if you're enjoying. Always remember to eat lots of iron-rich foods after almost bleeding out.


	11. Shizuka Reaches the Truth

_Shizuka finally finds the person she came to see._

* * *

A safe return to Morioh left the trio with only one thing left to do – track down Centipede's leader. From the documents they found in Money's desk, she was apparently named Nishi Kikue. Last known location was somewhere around the upscale summer homes near the cape, though it didn't get more specific than that.

Despite the vagueness, they'd have to make their move soon. Money's arrest would no doubt make the news, likely prompting Nishi to flee. If they didn't find her quickly, they might never have another chance.

This inevitably begged the question of why the group were still at the Morioh Grand Hotel and not searching for their target. While both Giorno and Sheila E were refreshed and ready to go, they were stuck waiting outside of Shizuka's room calling for her over and over to try and get her to come out.

She ignored them, though, huddled in the corner of the room turning over everything she'd learned since getting here, invisible on reflex to ensure no one would be able to bother her even if they made it inside. She wasn't simply some lost child all this time but a victim of human trafficking. Except now she realized that wasn't even true after the latest revelation, trying to grapple with the truth that she'd been both unwanted and the heir to the organization she thought took her in the first place.

It was a hard reality for anyone to face, let alone a kid. She came here wanting to find her birth mother hoping for her to be someone kind who tragically lost her due to her Stand's uncontrollable nature, but now she had to come to terms with realizing that finding that mother would mean arresting her. And what of her birth father? Was he in on this? Was he even still alive?

Her thoughts were interrupted once the window flung open, Sheila E somehow managing to scale the side of the hotel and jump her way through. "Let's go," she grumbled, marching straight towards Shizuka and pulling her up by the arm.

"What?" she exclaimed. "How are-"

"I told you before that I can smell you," she said. "You might as well not even be invisible." Dragging her towards the door, she felt the girl yank her arm loose from her grip. "We're wasting time," she said, irritation evident in her voice.

"I'm not going," Shizuka said suddenly.

"This was all your idea," she shot back. "You're just going to quit this close to the end?"

"I can't go," she said, a depression forming on the side of the bed to indicate she'd sat down. "I can't go."

Though Sheila E was about to loudly berate her for a perceived lack of conviction, she was interrupted by Giorno. Sitting delicately with his legs crossed on the windowsill, he said, "We can't force her to come. We'll complete the mission on our own."

Hesitating for only a moment, she replied, "If you're sure." Sheila E gave one last disappointed look towards the space where Shizuka would be, leaving through the door.

"I understand your apprehension," Giorno told her as he walked towards the door himself. "You know where we'll be if you change your mind about this. If you don't, I'll hold no ill will towards you. This is a choice only you can make." He left after that, leaving Shizuka to sulk and contemplate her life up to that point.

As the two went to catch their taxi, Sheila E couldn't help but comment, "Going to be a lot harder without her there."

"You're right," Giorno agreed. "It seemed likely she would be able to direct us to her mother once we were in close proximity, not unlike how my former team tracked down Diavolo in the past. Without her help, we won't have an idea of where she might be hiding."

"Guess that's what we get for putting this all on a kid," she replied while climbing inside the car.

"She's done more than anyone could expect of her," Giorno said. "It would be wrong of us to force her to do this." After giving a few directions to the driver, they sat in total, stoic, and slightly unnerving silence until they made it to their destination.

"So this is it," Sheila E commented, taking in the finely manicured grounds surrounding each of the expensive western-style houses dotting the cape. "Buildings aren't much to look at but I can at least admire the scenery."

"We'll have time to look after we finish the job," Giorno told her. "Maybe rent one for a holiday at some point if we're impressed." He wasn't too concerned with finding ways to reward his most trusted subordinates at the moment, though. His main goal was finishing what they'd started and hopefully allowing Shizuka to find some closure, if indirectly.

As they feared, though, they had no real direction as to where they might be going or who they might be looking for. It would have been too charitable for their target to jump out and greet them the moment they showed up, but not even careful observation of the surroundings or the people going about their days playing on lawns and taking walks revealed anything out of the ordinary.

Beyond a short interlude marveling at a very small dog, the two were accomplishing absolutely nothing. Even worse, they were keenly aware that this was probably their only shot at catching her. Beyond the high probability that the target could flee at any moment, someone as cautious as she appeared to be would likely be aware of the two of them passing through. If they turned up a second time, it would be obvious that they weren't simple tourists.

Voodoo Child's mouths weren't turning up anything of value. There were plenty of voices to dig through at each location Sheila E planted them, though none revealed anything that might incriminate one of the recent occupants of any of the homes. Giorno's life detection didn't reveal anything out of the ordinary, either, the functions of everyone in the area seeming fairly unremarkable.

After taking a few moments to admire an average but somehow extremely talked about rock formation jutting from the water, the two redoubled their efforts. To what end, though, wasn't exactly clear. Short of breaking into each house individually or attempting to fight every woman they came across, there wasn't much they could do without at least a physical description. The possibility of being ambushed was also starting to seem like a concern, the longer they were there meaning the longer someone had to figure out what they were up to.

"They've found us," Giorno said rather unenthusiastically, noting how they'd wandered into an area without other people around save for two men in dark suits approaching them from the distance.

"Guess that means we'll be able to find our target, then," Sheila E replied, cracking her neck to the side. It wasn't much of a contest as to which side would be the victor. At least in some way, all of them knew this was only meant as a distraction. After all, if the people hunting Centipede's leader managed to work their way through her most trusted subordinates in such a short span of time, what chance did a pair of bodyguards stand against them?

Nishi herself was headed out of the area, preparing to call the cab company to come take her away while thoughtlessly sacrificing her two henchmen to her pursuers. She'd relocate somewhere at least a prefecture away and begin rebuilding her business like nothing had ever happened. She had enough connections in organized crime to get herself back on top in no time. Then she'd set about finding whoever had tipped these goons off and kill anyone and everyone they'd ever met to set an example for things going forward.

Yes, this was a good plan, she thought to herself. There was only one thing she'd overlooked: The little girl stepping out of a taxi a few yards away from her. While seeing an unaccompanied child roll up on this neighborhood was a bit strange, it certainly didn't warrant the level of surprise she felt at this moment.

In part, this was because of how uncannily similar the two looked. Removing her mirrored sunglasses, Nishi looked her over from head to toe with a pair of cold, dark eyes. The same long, jet black hair. The same roundness in their features. Even the same blood red lipstick and affinity for flowing purple and pink garments, though hers were a shade or two darker than the girl's.

Even stranger, the longer she looked, the more she felt drawn towards her. Almost as if fate itself was pulling them together, she had to stop herself from approaching the girl on instinct. This hesitation turned out to be a grave mistake, though, as it only took that moment for her to be noticed.

In almost the same fashion as Nishi, Shizuka examined the older woman as soon as she caught sight of her. Though they were obscured by her sunglasses, her eyes went wide at the immediate recognition she felt in her soul. This was the woman she was looking for. This was her mother.

Any sense of wonder quickly faded, however, a deep rage overtaking her mind and body. She began to approach the criminal, first in a walk then at a run, fists and teeth clenched harder than she thought possible. A second later, out came Achtung Baby, externalizing the screams inside her as it preemptively began throwing a flurry of punches.

"A Stand?" Nishi exclaimed, barely having a chance to defend herself before the attacks could connect. To do so, she was forced to bring out her own, expertly batting away each strike with the finesse of a veteran fighter. A brief clash ensued, the two falling back after only a moment to assess the situation they'd been thrust into.

This at least provided an answer as to where Shizuka got her Stand from, though it did little to reveal what abilities the enemy might have. Given the muscular appearance of the deep purple and gold-clad figure, it seemed to be the close range type. What other secrets it might hold remained to be seen, the intense expression in its red eyes more than assuring nothing good was coming.

Struggling against a set of golden staples set into its purple lips, the Stand seemed to be gnashing its teeth in anticipation. This, combined with the three pronged headpiece bordering and separating both sides of its face, almost made it look like a wild man chained up and forced to fight like you'd see in some old movie.

"It looks like we're the same," Nishi said, obviously not pleased by this turn of events. "Before this goes any further, why don't you tell me what you think you're doing here?"

"Stopping you," Shizuka replied simply, vanishing from sight a moment later. With any luck, she'd end this fight in seconds, at which point she could catch up with her allies and this whole mess would be done with. Things rarely worked that smoothly, though.

For seemingly no reason at all, Nishi's Stand threw a heavy punch straight into the air a short ways off from itself. Other than a small breeze, it did absolutely nothing to affect Shizuka. That's how it seemed as she was silently walking towards her enemy, at least until the force of that blow slammed into the side of her face as soon as she set foot nearby, knocking her back to visibility and sending her flying several feet into the distance.

"I shouldn't expect much, but I am disappointed," Nishi said, watching the girl flounder around on the ground, blood pouring from her broken teeth and jaw. "I guess I just thought you'd be a bit more formidable, whoever you are."

As the Stand geared up for another punch, this one seemingly to make direct contact, she saw fit to explain what had happened. "You won't be alive much longer, so I'll let you know what my Stand, Rattle and Hum, is capable of." The punch flew, seemingly predicting where Shizuka was going to scurry to after another brief bought of invisibility, striking her firmly in the ribs and driving her into the pavement.

"I can see the lines of time left by every single person I've ever met. Backwards or forwards, I know exactly where someone's been and where they'll go if I just look long enough." Shizuka didn't seem to be listening, going invisible a third time and running off somewhere. In response, Rattle and Hum threw a series of rapid punches into the air behind it. Moments later, the sound of them striking flesh could be heard, Shizuka once again ragdolling across the ground.

"I can do more than just see, though," she added, finally seeing fit to address what was happening. "If you were just a little more patient, you might not have done that. My Stand can attack people along those lines of time. If I attack forward, I'll hit you when you inevitably move to that spot. If I attack backwards, though..." As if to demonstrate, Rattle and Hum smashed its fist into the spot on the ground where Shizuka was struck earlier.

"...the attacks catch up to you," she concluded, the punch nearly caving in Shizuka's chest from several feet away and forcing a fountain of blood from between her lips. "It takes the same amount of time to reach you compared to how long ago you were in that spot, but it always reaches you eventually. There's no escaping me."

Lungs filling with blood and fluid, Shizuka could barely breathe let alone create any Hamon. Her mental strength was waning, too, finding it harder and harder to resist the tempting proposition of slipping away into unconsciousness and death with the immense amount of pain she was feeling across her body. Broken bones stabbing into her organs, mouth hanging open limply on one side, and treasured glasses laying shattered on the ground nearby were not a recipe for success.

Nishi could see the pink beam of light leading out from Shizuka, the twisting path it took representing her movements in the near future as she launched a desperate last attack. A single uppercut into the sky fixed this, though, Shizuka barely having time to launch herself forward before Achtung Baby was caught by the result of the blow, causing her to somersault in midair before landing painfully back on the ground.

Despite the injuries, she wasn't about to give up. Even if she died here, she had to make something of her efforts. Giorno and Sheila E would finish what she started no matter what, so she'd do whatever it took to keep Nishi here until they could arrive.

As it fell from the sky, Achtung Baby's body began to glow with a white light, engulfing the area in a flash seconds later. Shizuka heard her opponent yell, hopefully having succeeded in blinding her for the time being. If Rattle and Hum's ability entailed seeing the future, removing the "seeing" part of that equation rendered it as just another power Stand.

Wrenching herself forward on the ground, Shizuka's legs immediately gave out under her as she tried to run. It didn't matter, though. She summoned every ounce of willpower inside herself to send Achtung Baby forward, concentrating all the strength it could muster combined with the last wisps of air in her lungs to strike Nishi square in the chest with one punch.

While Shizuka's attack connected, it was only at the expense of taking another hit from Rattle and Hum. Whether it was memorizing the lines of time she'd seen before or simple fighter's instinct, Nishi had thrown a punch hard enough to crack Achtung Baby's head in half, both combatants falling backwards onto the ground.

As crimson liquid poured out of Shizuka's broken skull, her eyes glazed over. Crumpled on the ground in a heap, she felt the last bits of energy left inside her slipping away. It was funny, she thought, that she'd not only be killed by the same person who brought her into the world but that it was actually a second attempt at doing so. She swore she could feel the crack of a sternum under her Stand's fist, so there was a good chance her Hamon managed to travel to the heart. That would take Nishi out for at least a good minute or so. Someone would come in that time, she was sure.

She thought of Giorno and Sheila E and how upset they might be to find her having failed. She hoped they'd keep their promise not to kill anyone even after that. She thought of her brother Josuke and his goofy friends, never getting the chance to see them one last time what with their being away during her entire visit. Her sister Holly, too, and Jolyne who was apparently going through some rough times with her father. She never could get a straight answer as to what was happening there from anyone she asked.

Her thoughts arrived at her parents. The image of them hearing of her death would have broken her heart if it didn't literally have a piece of rib stabbing through it. And this all happened in the pursuit of finding out who made her. How awful they must have felt, at least in some small way, thinking that they weren't enough for her. That wasn't and never was true, though, and she'd have given anything to go to them right now and tell them that just to be sure that that wasn't the memory they were left with once she was gone.

"Shizuka Joestar, your resolve is shining." She didn't recognize this voice, its cold, almost mechanical tone being wholly unfamiliar to her despite the sense that she knew who it belonged to. Furthermore, she wasn't entirely sure how she was hearing it now given she was either unconscious or dead the last time she checked.

"Your resolve...it shines like gold upon the path you've chosen. A path of justice." Her eyes opened, finally taking in the full form of both the speaker and Giorno's Stand standing over her, realizing them to be one and the same.

"You will survive this," the Stand told her, no amount of uncertainty in its voice. "There's still more for you. Your fate has not reached its end."

The image of the Stand began to fade, color and light filling in the black space they'd occupied just moments before. In its place was Giorno himself, his worried expression giving way to a reassuring smile once he saw Shizuka stir. "You're awake," he said, clearly relieved.

"So that's her," Sheila E said, contempt dripping from her lips as Nishi convulsed on the ground next to her.

"She's still here?" Shizuka asked weakly, still in shock from almost being dead just moments earlier.

"Only because you were able to occupy her long enough for us to reach you," Giorno told her. "I was able to detect the change in your life force from where we were. You did well in keeping her here."

Despite the protests of both her allies, Shizuka wobbled to her feet, still aching despite the fact her body was free of wounds. "Get up," she told Nishi. "I want to know something." It was clear that the Hamon had already worn off by now, the enemy apparently hoping that laying prone and pretending to be dead would result in being left there.

Realizing that that wasn't going to work, she reluctantly got to her feet, eyes darting between all three Stand users to try and read for a way out based on their lines of time. This seemed to be a truly fruitless endeavor, especially when the golden one didn't even seem to have any lines to read.

"Why?" Shizuka asked, trying her best to keep her voice measured. "Why did you abandon your child?"

"How did you know about that?" she said, growing even more confused as to Shizuka's identity. "What does it even matter to you?"

Composure quickly breaking away, Shizuka shouted, "Because that was me!" As much as she hated it, she couldn't keep herself from letting a few tears fall from her eyes. "You just left a baby on the side of the road! How could you hate someone that much?"

Freezing, Nishi seemed to change. Her features softened as she raised a hand to her face almost as if she was ashamed of herself. Could someone who worked as a human trafficker even feel shame over something they'd done?

"My baby..." she whispered, sounding like she'd fallen into despair. "I wish I could explain."

"What's stopping you?" Shizuka yelled, Giorno and Sheila E preparing to step in in case something went too far.

"Because I could never make you understand my decision. I deserve your hate."

"You can't just leave it like this!" she shouted, pulling at her hair. "You can't just leave me not knowing! I came all this way...everything..."

"I couldn't let you be raised in this life," she said suddenly. "It was foolish of me to think I could bring up a child. But I was a fool in love. He abandoned me when he found out who I really was, though, and I couldn't bring myself to end it before you were born."

Gripping at her chest, Nishi shouted, "I didn't know what to do! I couldn't just leave you to someone else or my enemies might find you. I couldn't kill you, my own child. So I left you somewhere. I know it wasn't smart or right, but it was all I could think to do. All I could do was hope that someone would find you and take you far away from me." With a pained smile, she added, "And at least it looks like someone did."

The story was full of holes. Anyone paying attention could see that. Yet, for as foolish as she was being now, Shizuka wanted to believe it. She wanted to believe that her abandonment wasn't for nothing. That, for as bad of a person as she seemed to be, there was some small part of Nishi that did love her in a way. That meant that maybe there was some future between them, whatever that might entail.

That fantasy was put to bed without another word as Voodoo Child socked Nishi in the jaw, toppling her over. "Sorry," Sheila E snarled. "The smell of bullshit was starting to make my head hurt." She glanced to Shizuka. "You weren't buying that, right?"

While the girl couldn't find the words to answer, it was Nishi herself that said everything there was to say. At least, the pair of lips on the side of her face did. "I can't believe this idiot thinks I'm serious!" they said, the speaker herself looking in horror at the disgusting disfigurement spilling her secrets. "I never wanted that kid! I would have gone to a professional to take care of it if I knew all the drinking I did wouldn't have done the job! I threw it out the window like the trash it was after just a few weeks!"

The lips laughed then, adding, "I bet I can get out of this if I keep this up! I'll say some shit about wanting a day to get to know her before I turn myself in, then I'll snap her neck and make a run for it! They'll never find me again!"

Voodoo Child's ability truly was a fearsome one. For all the mental damage Nishi herself had taken, though, it was Shizuka who bore the brunt of it. Illusion now fully shattered, she knew what she had to do. Fists clenched, she muttered, "You left me alive." Whole body beginning to shake in fury, she said, "And that's how I'm going to leave you."

Drawing in as deep a breath as she could until her lungs felt like they could burst, Achtung Baby shot forward, fists slamming into Nishi's body and sending her upwards. "Vi! Vi! Vi! Vi! Vi! Vi!" it cried, wailing on every square inch of her it could lay a hand on and effectively keeping her suspended above the ground by the force of its blows alone.

"Vi! Vi! Vi! Vi! Vi! Vi! Vi! Vi!" The punches just wouldn't stop, each one sending another jolt of Hamon through Nishi's body to amplify the pain with that familiar shocking sensation. "Vi! Vi! Vi! Vi! Vi! Vi!" At this point, she'd begun to gurgle some kind of plea for mercy, though the blood filling her mouth and her thoroughly annihilated face made it difficult to form any words. "Vi! Vi! Vi! Vi! Vi! Vi! Vi! Vi! Vi! Vi! Vi! Vi!"

With one decisive punch square in the face, Nishi went flying to a final, "Vi!" louder and more anguished than any before it. Her body hit the ground with a wet smack, rolling through the dirt before coming to a stop face down in a growing pool of blood. Turning away, a few more tears rolled down Shizuka's cheeks before she shook them away, muttering, "Auf Wiedersehen," to herself as her Stand was recalled.

The police arrived not long after, a concerned citizen in one of the houses nearby hearing the commotion and deciding to call them around the time he caught a glimpse of a little girl bleeding on the pavement. Shizuka, Giorno, and Sheila E had all left before then, though, content with the knowledge that Nishi's crimes would soon be exposed after having her spirit more than broken.

This put them in a strange position of having completed both of their goals with nothing left to do. During the downtime back at the hotel, Shizuka talked to her parents about what had happened since they last called, leaving out the fine details to discuss with them later and saying that she did, indeed, find her birth mother. She was quick to note how she wasn't anything like she'd hoped she'd be, a downright terrible person, and that she couldn't hope to replace her real parents in any way.

In the other room, Giorno had already called Mista to have him and Polnareff start negotiations with the Speedwagon Foundation. While their truce generally forbade Passione from organizing outside of Italy in any official capacity, it seemed like a necessary step to take given the inevitable power vacuum that would follow Centipede's dissolution.

Both conversations ended with the promise to leave Morioh in around a week's time. Until then, though, they had to find a way to occupy themselves. The first two days passed rather uneventfully, none of the group feeling particularly eager to be out and about after such a depressing end to their journey. However, the third day brought a rather interesting piece of information courtesy of Shimura.

He had called to congratulate Shizuka on taking out Centipede after hearing the reports on the news, though he quickly changed his tune after learning the full story. "That's pretty rough," he said after she explained Nishi's identity. "Really can't imagine how that feels."

"Not good," she said plainly, still shook up about learning how horrible the lady who birthed her was.

Shimura paused after that, making noises that gave the impression he was considering something. "Hey..." he began. "I wasn't just calling to say hi, you know. I actually kind of have something you might want to know."

"Like what?" she asked, sitting up in bed.

"Well, it's about that lady who ran the thing. I got some information from a police report."

"Did you hack into the police system?"

He scoffed. "No, but I could have. No, it was just a guy I know who works there. Sometimes he'll talk at me about weird details from cases. Thinks I'm not paying attention or won't understand, but I'm always listening."

"What's this have to do with me?" she asked him, losing patience with this roundabout explanation.

"It's the lady. They found something on her when they brought her to the hospital. Like some kind of note, I think. Had an address on it for someplace in town." He paused again, almost feeling a bit uneasy about giving her this information for fear of what she might do. "Basically, the cops went there and it was just a guy probably about the same age as her. They didn't have any evidence to take him in so they just left him be. But he did say he knew her. Like, more than a decade ago. You get what I mean?"

Everything fell into place at that moment. Shizuka tried to ask for more but an equal and volatile mix of fear, confusion, and excitement left her too conflicted to ask any questions or even respond. "Anyway, I'll give you the address. What you do with it is up to you. I hope you find what you're looking for."

A brief exchange of information ended their call, Shizuka bolting from her room to report to her allies what she'd learned. Jumping on their last lead, they left the hotel in a hurry to find the place they'd been directed to.

It didn't take long to do that given it was just another average white-painted home among a series of similar houses within the residential areas. Stepping from the taxi, the trio stood at the curb and planned what they were going to do. To call it "planning" would be a bit inaccurate, though, as it was more Giorno and Sheila E reminding Shizuka of her stated intentions of going to the door and calling the man out to see what he was like.

Despite the clear path ahead, she was stuck there unwilling to move. Anxiety grew stronger with each moment, urging her to run and not look back. She'd already been disappointed once; what would she do if this turned out the same way?

"We'll be here if you need us," Sheila E told her, giving an uncharacteristic pat on the shoulder. Even her normally abrasive attitude couldn't keep her from sympathizing with these fears, probably because of her own family issues.

"Whatever happens, you'll at least reach the truth," Giorno said.

Knowing that if she put it off any longer she'd definitely try to run, Shizuka summoned her strength and took the first few agonizing steps towards the house. One foot after the other, she slowly made her way up to the brown wooden door, knocking only twice and holding her breath to await an answer.

Inside, the home's owner navigated his way to the front of the house expecting to find more police questioning him. Upon opening the door, though, he was greeted by a shaking child and two intense strangers standing off in the distance behind her.

"Who are you?" the young-looking man asked, not sure what a more appropriate response would be. This confusion was only compounded by a sense of affinity he felt towards her, like an urge to take her inside and comfort her despite the fact they were strangers and he'd likely have to answer more and different questions from the police after that.

Shizuka stuttered and mumbled several incomprehensible words, doing her best not to turn invisible out of stress. Avoiding the actual question asked, she countered with, "Did you know Nishi Kikue?"

With a groan, the man scratched at his head of short, dark hair, rolling a pair of green eyes and leaning against the door frame. "Look, I knew her a long time ago. We haven't talked since then. I had no idea what she was doing, got it? Anyway, how did you even get my address? I'm not involved in any of this."

"That's..." She couldn't really think of how to answer him, the fact that he was almost certainly her father making it difficult to even begin to explain anything. If the evidence so far wasn't enough proof, the fact she was getting that same feeling as when she met Nishi sealed it. Even then, was she just meant to come out and tell him who she was?

"Look, I'm going back inside. Please don't come back here." He turned to leave, nearly closing the door before he froze in place at what she said next.

"I'm your daughter," Shizuka proclaimed. "With her. Nishi. I don't know all the details, but...she abandoned me. I guess never told you. But I'm here now." She paused. "I don't really know why."

Turning back around, his eyes went wide, letting out a long sigh and brushing his hair back with both hands. "Oh, boy," he said, shifting on his heels and tugging at his blue t-shirt uncomfortably. "Wow, that...makes sense, I think. I didn't know any of that. And I probably shouldn't believe it just from you saying it...but I do, and I don't know why. I feel like you're not lying."

"I could be wrong," she said quickly. "I don't think I am, though."

"I really didn't know," he said, almost sounding apologetic. "I broke things off when I found out she was some kind of criminal, but I didn't even know how bad it was. And I definitely didn't know we had you. God, I'm...I'm sorry."

She shook her head. "It isn't your fault," she reassured him. "It's not like you left me on the side of the road." She tried to walk that back, realizing that was probably another shock he wasn't prepared to handle at this point. "Like I said, I don't know why I'm here. I just...wanted to see who you were. What you're like. But I don't expect anything from you."

The two stood in awkward silence for some time after that, neither really sure of how to proceed from there. "I guess...I'll go," Shizuka said finally. "Sorry for bothering you with this."

"I mean..." he began, sighing again. "We don't have to be strangers." Realizing that didn't make much sense, he explained. "You don't expect me to be your dad and I don't really think I could handle having you as a kid, but...I mean, I guess we're family and all. So if you're not too freaked out by it, I don't see why we couldn't get to know each other."

Something inside Shizuka stirred at hearing this. If asked, she couldn't really describe why she felt such a sudden and severe relief at these words. He was absolutely correct in his assessment that neither of them was looking for the kind of relationship their blood dictated they should have. Even so, there was no reason they had to have no relationship at all.

In the end, maybe that was all she really wanted out of this whole endeavor – a friend. Thinking on that more, she came to realize just how many of those she'd made during the journey. Though there was a lot she could say about how it made her feel, the most important part was that she was now just a little bit less alone in the world than she was before.

Shizuka tried to answer in agreement only to find herself spontaneously bursting into tears. "Hey, come on!" he said, walking up to pat her shoulder. "You don't have to do all that." He looked to the strangers watching them with a worried expression, silently begging for help. It was safe to say that he really wasn't father material. "I mean, do you want to come inside? Maybe get something to drink?"

Shizuka nodded, smiling as she continued to cry. "Your friends can come if they want," he said a bit uneasily, raising his voice for them to hear. "Oh, uh...my name is Tokuo. Yasuda Tokuo."

Sniffling as she was led through the door, she wiped at her face before responding. "Shizuka. Joestar."

* * *

The next few days were fairly eventful for the group. Shizuka and Tokuo took the time to get to know each other a bit more, exchanging things like phone numbers and promising to keep in touch even after she left for America. He joined them on a few of their activities around the city, as well, making the Italians' dreams come true by turning the remaining time they had into the sightseeing vacation they had wanted.

On the final day, Shizuka, Giorno, and Sheila E headed out to the edge of Morioh. They planned to make a stop and visit everyone to say their goodbyes before hopping on their flights later, somewhat hoping Josuke would finally come back to town before then (it was honestly becoming worrying just how long the camping trip had lasted).

Before all that, though, Shizuka promised the two a meal at her favorite restaurant in town. As coy as she was about exactly what they were going to eat and how irritated that made Sheila E specifically, it was quite worth it to see the exasperated looks they made after realizing it was an Italian eatery.

"I see," was all Giorno had to say, keeping his composure despite the obvious fear he felt at what the Japanese interpretation of authentic Italian cooking might be. Still, he wasn't one to be rude, especially if Shizuka said this was her favorite place.

"They'd better not have any of your shitty Japanese pizzas," Sheila E growled. "I've seen those before. The ones with mayonnaise and all that other garbage on top. I'll kill the chef if he brings that out for me."

Their annoyance from before was matched only by the surprise they felt after stepping inside, seeing the quaint decor of the small restaurant and likening it to several restaurants they actually enjoyed back in Naples. Things were more promising than they'd expected, at least.

"Oh, buongiorno," the chef said as he came to greet them after hearing the bell above the door ring. "Ah, Signorina Joestar! It's a pleasure to see you, as always!"

"Hello, Tonio," she said with a smile. "It'll be three today. These are my friends from Italy."

He nodded, leading them to a table and pulling out their chairs for them. "It's always a pleasure to meet my countrymen. I'm a bit nervous, though. I hope my cooking can stand up against the new developments the chefs there have made recently."

"With the way Shizuka has spoken of your restaurant, I doubt we have anything to fear," Giorno said in Italian.

With a laugh, Tonio nodded. "Thank you for your words of encouragement, signore." He poured the three water before asking them to present their hands, Shizuka nodding to the two to confirm that this was part of the experience.

Examining Shizuka's hand, he nodded once more. "You seem to be taking care of yourself, though your lower back is a bit stiff. Your knuckles are a bit bruised, as well." Moving to Sheila E, he commented, "I see. Cracked heels and some fungus on your big toe." She glared daggers at Shizuka, warning her not to say anything through looks alone.

Moving to Giorno, Tonio was almost astounded. "Most impressive, signore. You seem to be in perfect health. That said, you likely could stand to get more sleep. Your eyes are a bit itchy, yes?"

"You could tell all of that with just a look?" he replied, naturally a bit suspicious though still willing to take things as they came with Shizuka's reassurance.

With a bow, Tonio explained his method. "I have a talent for identifying the needs and deficiencies of my customers. As a chef, I pride myself on making food that can benefit the health of those who eat it. Also, I noticed you don't appear to eat meat. Is that correct."

"Not for some time," he confirmed. His power was this specific, was it?

"I see. I'll be sure to take that into account."

Before he moved to the kitchen, Sheila E raised a finger into the air. "Can I get an espresso while you're in there? This place is Italian, so you've got espresso, right?"

"Ho capito," he replied with a bow before leaving.

"Seems like an interesting character," Sheila E said a bit backhandedly. "Hey, he didn't even give us a menu. How are we supposed to order?"

"He knows what we want," Shizuka replied, satisfied at being the one in control for a change. "And before anything happens, don't use your Stands."

This was immediately alarming to the two of them, both the idea that they might need to use their Stands to eat or that they were being forbade from doing so. They chose to trust her on this, though that trust was quickly put to the test after Giorno's eyes began to leak with only a sip of that amazing mineral water. Despite the temptation to activate Gold Experience, things were allowed to run their course even when his eyes began to deflate.

"I believe I'm starting to understand," Giorno said, blinking a few times and examining the pool of fluid on the ground, vision crystal clear and a mild headache from staying up too late no longer bothering him.

"This guy's a Stand user, right?" Sheila E asked, receiving only a smug smile from Shizuka as a response. "All I'm saying is he better not try anything with me. I'll rip him in half."

Something caught their attention at that moment. As he did with any guest, Tonio had lit the candle in the center of their table to help increase the ambiance of the meal. Though they'd only been in here for a few minutes at most and the candle was certainly a good two to three feet tall when first lit, it had now gone out entirely. The flame was snuffed in a pool of lavender wax, the candle holder overflowing onto the table.

Giorno was the first to notice, though the other two weren't far behind. "This is..." He didn't finish his thought, eyes drawn to the steam rising around him. "From the floor..."

"That stuff came out of your eyes seconds ago," Sheila E noted. "But...it's evaporating? Doesn't that take a while to do on its own?"

"That's not part of the meal," Shizuka told them, standing up from her chair. Looking outside, the odd occurrences didn't seem to be limited to just the restaurant. A child was crying over a pool of what looked to be melted ice cream as if it had happened suddenly and without any time to eat it. A man painting his house was shouting and carrying on, the paint seemingly dried inside the bucket. Even the tombstones in the nearby graveyard were noticeably becoming more worn by the second.

"Everyone, get close to me!" Giorno shouted, the three huddling together at the moment the sky began to rapidly change from day to night. Though none of them could explain what was happening, they knew it was nothing good. "Gold Experience Requiem!"

The clocks and watches in view began to spin out of control, turning in full circles over and over again too many times to keep track. Before long, the entire building began to degrade and collapse around them, all three in a panic and unsure of what to do. While they were seemingly unaffected by this, everything else was most certainly feeling the effects of the catastrophe.

The ground collapsed around them, the world itself seeming to fall away into the vacuum of space. As terrifying as this was, the sheer awe of the cosmos around them as the Earth broke apart was unlike anything they could have ever imagined. The sun appeared to go supernova at this point, swallowing up whatever was left and forcing them to shield their eyes from the white-hot intensity. Just as quickly, though, it shrunk back down, then died out entirely.

One by one, even the most distant of stars also began to blink out until all that was left around them was an inky black void. Nothing and no one remained save for the three of them, shielded from the carnage only by virtue of Giorno's unbeatable Stand. At this point, though, maybe that was more of a curse than a blessing.

"What...what the hell is happening!" Sheila E shouted. Even before she could finish saying it, the three witnessed what could only be described as the beginning of the universe – the Big Bang. A swirling mess of matter and energy exploded out from a center point somewhere far off, nearly blinding them from its radiance.

Things continued to speed up even more, the group watching the formation of the sun, the planets, their moons, and everything else in the solar system. Encircling the Earth, it spun rapidly as they stayed fixed in place on its surface, watching in real time as the primordial sea gave rise to life, the first creature to set foot on land, its evolution, and all the way forward to the appearance of man.

Eras passed in fractions of seconds, kingdoms rising and falling in the length of time it would take for a drop of sweat to leave the tip of a nose and hit the floor. At one point, they found themselves in Trattoria Trussardi once again, though it was a far different building and business as they observed its original construction and use prior to Tonio even being born.

Suddenly, a wave of light flew over the world, everything once again speeding up. Considering they were now thoroughly beyond the speed of light, how that was even possible was a question they couldn't even conceive an answer to.

Once more, they watched the world crumble, the solar system be engulfed, and then nothing. The Big Bang happened again, the world reforming and evolving at breakneck pace. And then, just as suddenly as everything began, it all stopped and they were returned to the restaurant as if nothing had happened.

It took several seconds before their minds could register everything they'd just experienced. The first thing they looked to was the candle, burning once more and only having melted a reasonable amount correlating to what one would expect since it was first lit. Next, they checked the floor, finding that there was no fluid there.

Tonio walked out, almost jumping in surprise at the sight of three people at his table. "Oh," he said plainly. "My apologies. I didn't hear you come in. Welcome to Trattoria Trussardi. I see you've found your seats."

"Tonio, what are you talking about?" Shizuka asked him, already beginning to panic. "We were here before. You talked to us. You even read our palms. What's happening?"

"I'm sorry, signorina, but I don't remember any of that. I feel like such an awful host now. Have I even asked your names?"

"We have to leave, excuse us." Giorno led the others out of the restaurant, trying to understand what had happened to the world. From the outside, everything seemed fairly normal. It wasn't, though, otherwise Tonio would have remembered them coming to eat. Not only that, he acted as if he didn't know Shizuka at all.

They ran through the streets to try and find anything that might explain this. Their destination for the moment was Rohan's house, hoping that maybe someone they were more familiar with might have been immune to whatever had wiped Tonio's memory. He was also the closest so there was no wasted time.

They arrived quickly, not even bothering to knock before Sheila E took the initiative and broke down his door in a single punch. Storming inside, they nearly ran up the stairs before stopping. "Would you all care to explain why you've broken into my home and interrupted my work?" he demanded, peering over the railing with a dissatisfied look.

"Do you not remember us, either?" Shizuka asked, voice quivering.

"What are you talking about?" he said with a quirk of his brow. "Of course I remember you. That's why I'm so confused as to why you, Shizuka, would take part in breaking and entering. I'd understand if it was Josuke who put you up to this, but I'd expect better from these adults."

Their relief at hearing this was short-lived, though, as the issue of what happened and how they could fix it still hung in the air. After a brief explanation to Rohan, he descended the stairs to discuss with them further. "First and foremost, I'd like to request to be able to read your memories myself. Description is fine, but having an objective record of those events would help me with understanding. That way, I can more accurately depict such an event in my manga."

"This isn't the time!" Shizuka told him. "If you remember us, you should have gone through the same things, anyway. Are you really saying you didn't notice anything?"

He thought for a moment, tapping his chin. "Now that you mention it, my deadlines did seem to be coming sooner and sooner. I always managed to make them in time, though, so I simply ignored it. You think that may have been related to this event?"

"Alright, everyone settle down," an unfamiliar, nasally voice said from outside. "Everyone stay calm and I'll explain what happened." A young Japanese man only a few years older than Shizuka appeared, strolling through the door with hands shoved firmly into neatly pressed black pants. His dark blue cardigan was secured with three gleaming golden buttons, each bearing the image of a star, a matching cap with gold trim sitting atop short, light brown hair combed to the left.

"Wait, wait, wait!" he shouted in distress as all four of them immediately called out their Stands. "I'm not the one who did it! He's dead and gone!"

This gave them pause, Giorno speaking to ask, "If you're not the culprit, then who is?"

"It was a guy named Pucci," he said. "Used to be a follower of your dad of all people." He ignored the look of shock they all exchanged at hearing that, continuing his explanation. "His Stand did all this. Remade the universe. But when he did, it happened again. And it just so happened that you four got left out in the cold."

"Then what do we do about that?" Sheila E asked. "Something's not right here, so how do we fix this?"

"Can't," he said simply. "You're all stuck outside of time now. Just a bunch of misfits that don't belong anywhere." He smiled, clearly pleased with himself. "But that's where I come." Reaching into his coat, he pulled out some sort of badge. "Inspector Joji Joestar of the Eternity Lookout Organization. I've been assigned to find you all a new place to live."

It was safe to say that the adventure had only just begun for Shizuka and her friends.

* * *

Shizuka has reached the truth and we've finally reached the end. Of this part of her story, at least.

So Golden Wind basically ended today save for the last two episodes we won't be getting until the end of the month. Probably a pretty good time to end this, too. DP saving anime once again by going that hard for just the third to last episode, and we still have Gold Experience Requiem and Sleeping Slaves left to go which are sure to look and feel at least as good (and maybe include a little something with Fugo since I've been good this year).

Speaking of which, I should probably clarify some stuff further now that people actually know what Requiem does. Requiem prevents a target from reaching the truth, i.e. it stops actions from leaving results. Mista shot his gun but the bullets remained inside, Diavolo splashed his blood at Giorno but it remained in his wound. In this, Shizuka's brain was hemorrhaged but it remained undamaged, Towa T was punched by Requiem but he wasn't injured (over and over again).

This is precisely why Gold Experience Requiem cannot stop Made in Heaven, at least in the situation presented here. Requiem will stop actions from leading to their results...but the result had already happened. Time was already moving forward at an alarming rate and the universe was already being remade. The results that would have acted upon Giorno, Shizuka, and Sheila E were erased, but anything affecting the world at large remained. That's why they were trapped in their own bubble and weren't integrated into the new universe.

Additionally, do not take this as canon. This is my interpretation of an incredibly vague ability we see used only once in the entire franchise proper. If you try to fight somebody on GER vs whoever, you're probably going to lose if you cite my fanfic as evidence positive or negative. Save us all the trouble and do something more constructive with your time like going to Egypt and finding some real arrows to give to me.

More importantly, how about all that Araki-level stuff I managed to shit out for Nishi? I was in rare form making her there and basically no one is going to pick up on it. Rattle and Hum is U2's sixth studio album which comes right before they released Achtung Baby, hence why they're mother and daughter.

While I'm of the opinion that basically all of U2's music is terrible, critics especially disliked Rattle and Hum for feeling extremely derivative as a result of their excessive reference to other popular bands to the point the entire track list is about two steps from plagiarism. This is kind of a self-dig at myself for creating a main villain who's the head of a criminal organization with vague time-related powers that allow her to see and manipulate the future, because that doesn't sound like anyone we've met before. More substantially, it's also reflected in Nishi's design when she draws so many comparisons between herself and Shizuka, most of it amounting to her being a worse version of the person who came after her.

I also sort of decided to pick up the ball Araki dropped and loosely based Shizuka's journey here on the history of the Achtung Baby album. Troubled production, the group almost breaking up at several points, but after they improvd the first song everything started coming together and it's considered a major revival and change in their musical style, represented by a darker and more introspective shift in their songs. So Shizuka appears, is dissatisfied with being given babysitters on a quest for self-actualization, nearly abandons them several times, but following several moments of each group earning mutual respect from the other, they come together to finally achieve their goal and set out into the future as true friends.

And I know I'm basically blasting rope all over the place right now, but I'm always impressed by my ability to do writing 101 symbolism. Notice how Shizuka's glasses break in the final battle and, from that point forward, she's more open and honest about her emotions to the point of even crying several times? And how even when Nishi removes her own glasses, she still covers her face with her hand while lying through her teeth? AND how an earlier draft of this chapter had Nishi read the lines of time in the reflection of her glasses, further drawing the parallels between the album and her connections to Diavolo while establishing her as dishonest in every way possible? Now you'll never unsee that kind of stuff in books and film.

But I'm running out of space and no one cares about this. Thanks for reading. Share if you enjoyed. Check out my other stuff, especially In Our Lifetime? since that may or may not be important in the future. Come back here in a month or two when we start up the next leg of the journey with my take on Jorge Joestar. Always remember to read Joji's lines with Jaco the Galactic Patrolman's voice or you're wrong.


End file.
